Truck lanes would ease pollution, claims FTA
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• Trucks should be given priority lanes in towns as part of an eight-point package to help regenerate Britain's ailing town centres, according to the Freight Transport Association.
In a report called Lorries in Urban Areas, it cites shared truck and bus lanes in Newcastle as policies which could help, not hinder, truck movements. The report is a response to former transport minister Brian Mawhinney's request for a traffic debate. It recommends: Better access in pedestrianised areas; Better unloading facilities in pedestri anised areas;
E Enforcement of those facilities; E Junction improvements L_ Planning policies to support 24-hour truck access; L. A clear national planning structure; Better athisory traffic signing for key commercial/industrial areas. The FTA says trucks account for only 4.9% of urban traffic, down from 5.7% in 1984. But it adds that congestion is confounding the industry's efforts to reduce pollution with bigger, cleaner trucks. It heaped scorn on the Civic Trust's proposal for urban trans-shipment centres, saying they will increase congestion, pollution and costs.
Lorries in Urban Areas is available free of charge from the FTA at Hermes House, St John's Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 913Z.