Lorry routes: better advice
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LOCAL authorities are to be told by the Government how to make the most effective use of their powers to restrict heavy lorries to suitable routes.
Further advice is to be issued by the Department of Transport, said Junior Transport Minister, Kenneth Clarke, who admitted to the Commons before Christmas that the present arrangements were unsatisfactory and that lorries were travelling on unsuitable roads and causing a nuisance.
The Government wished local authorities to make more use of their powers under the "Dykes" Act, but had to accept that they knew their areas better than Whitehall did. There were difficulties in designating routes — it was no good just moving lorries from one person's front door to someone else's.
What was needed was a combination of discreet road improvements and programmes, and proper lorry routes had to be designated. In addition a decision had to be made to do what could be done to reduce the number of lorries, and to make them safer and quieter. The Government was dissatisfied with existing conditions and was trying to find a way of making progress.