Coll for Govt cash to end rood delay
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THE BRITISH Road Federation wants to see Government backing for the roads programme in Essex and Hertfordshire to enable a new programme of bypasses to be built faster than the 10 to 15 years envisaged.
In a new BRF report the group has outlined the cuts and effects that cuts have had on the roads programmes in the two counties and it tells of 40 year delays for some schemes.
In Essex 26 schemes classed as "important" had starting dates after 1991 and another 150 schemes have been abandoned altogether.
And in Hert fo rdshire the level of expenditure allowed by the Department of Transport for 1978/9 is so low that the planned highway improvements would have taken 60 years to complete.
Of the 105 road schemes under consideration only 12 would be built within 15 years with another three being built in 20 years. BRF says that even these limited schemes would need more cash than is currently available — but Essex County Council has now taken some measures aimed at making the necessary cash available.
And measures being put into operation by the two counties would mean that over 40 schemes would be completed by 1995 instead of the very few contemplated originally.
Maintenance of roads was also suffering and it was essential to maintain the existing structure of capital assets by preserving the structure of the roads — increased expenditure on the maintenance of roads was essential said the BRF.
Heavy volumes of freight traffic gave the two counties special problems in coping with the road budget plans.
It also meant that the counties had a special need for new east-west roads but the BRF thinks that the new London orbital road M25 will help to alleviate some of the problems.
And the two counties report criticises the delays in the completion of the M25 because, it says, without it the build up of traffic will become "intolerable" and it cites the increasing congestion and high accident rates on local roads as a result of its absence.