lowell hints at more
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
1THER SAFETY measures and possibly an accellerated roads gramme will be added to the Government's White Paper on people, and the environment, Transport Secretary David well has told the County Surveyors Society.
'rasping at another opportuP to promote his proposals to rease gross vehicle weights, he face of much opposition .n his own backbench col-. gues, Mr Howell said: "We ,e since been developing se proposals, and in particuI intend to announce further asures to make lorries safer."
addition to the weights inase proposals, the White ier gave priority to new bysec and other road schemes ich are designed to remove )ugh traffic from congested rn centres, he said.
hey also include moves tords better noise, vibration, lution and safety standards new lorries, a point which Mr Nell appeares to be prepared
to develop further. Sideguards were added to the specification for the proposed 34, 38, and 40tonne lorries after the White Paper was published (CM, January 9).
"It is not often that we have the opportunity to further three deeply valued objectives in our society at once — safeguarding and improving our surroundings, helping industry to compete and stimulating more jobs.
"When that opportunity occurs, it is surely unwise in the extreme to chuck it away," he added.
He also pointed out that the proposals are intended to protect people and the environment, and said that they were much the best way of making lorries safer, cleaner, and quieter, and taking them away from people and unsuitable routes.
"If we did nothing, the problems would get worse. Those who argue against the proposals in effect condone the present situation, which is one that has been too long neglected, to the great disadvantage of our environment, as well as the disadvantage of competitive industry," Mr Howell warned.
He pointed out that the existing bypass programme will take heavy traffic out of between 90 and 100 communities, and said that another 120 towns and villages would benefit from bypasses programmed to start over the next two to three years.
Again, he offered a hint of more activity here, saying he would shortly be making an announcement about whether it is possible to speed up the road programme.
And, speaking on the event of a two-day rail strike, he said: "The Government certainly wants to see as much freight as practicable on the railways. That is why we need a modern railfreight system with high productivity.
"The present negative opposition by a minority of railwaymen to better work practices must threaten to put this vital goal further away. Our economy just cannot afford to have freight trains operating with manning levels higher than almost any other railway in Europe, and double those of the most efficient."