Steeper Motorway Gradients ?
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FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT NAOTORVfrAYS of the future may LYI present more " ups and downs •' for heavy vehicles. A report to Parliament last week indicated that steeper gradients may in future be included in these new roads.
The result will be a saving in money to the Exchequer, but a probable increase in the cost of haulage. Some studies of this have been going on with the Road Research Laboratory, but they have not yet produced a satisfactory estimate.
Apart from higher costs, road users will also face increased hazards from those men armed with smoke meters and (soon) noise meters. More work for drivers, more headaches for hauliers—but more satisfaction for economy-minded M,P.s.
The whole business started when the Ministry of Transport found .the Lancashire County Council was being overpessimistic about the amount of "cut and fill" work needed to smooth its portion of M6.
The road was finally begun on a tender which clipped the previous lowest by about Lell million and, as a result, Parliament's Committee of Public Accounts became very interested in the "cut and fill problem. They suggested that a lot of money might be saved in the £100 million annual road programme if the permitted gradient was increased.
The Ministry carried out a detailed survey, and the conclusions are now available.
At present, the normal maximum motorway gradient is 3 in 100. It has been worked out that a maximum, where necessary, of 4 in 100 would have saved £133,000 in the 110 miles of M6 from Stafford to Lancaster„ and £270,000 in the 86 miles of M1 from Crick. to Doncaster, now under construction.
A marginal sum, admits the oTreasury. But the question will assume greater importance when motorways arc built through mountainous and hilly country. For instance, the Lancashire-Yorkshire motorway, now in the survey stage, will have to cross the Pennines.
The Ministry of Transport propose.s in future to examine each motorway scheme to see whether higher maximum gradients will result in worth-while savings.
Significantly, their latest word on this point mentions no new .maxinium. It could well rise quite sharply in difficult places.