No more roads
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T can understand the view lthrough the cab windscreen that demands more and more road building to solve traffic jams ("jam Tomorrow" CM 19-25 May), but I think it's mistaken. The jams which hauliers face won't be solved by more road building, because roads are not dedicated to freight. Any extra lanes on the M25, as demanded by TNT and others, will be used up by extra car traffic, especially if we get more Essex Lakesidestyle developments next to the motorways which fill them up with short distance traffic. Add to this the environmental damage caused by new roads (on people as well as wildlife) and "shouting loud" for more road building as the BRF does. All in all this looks a good way of making road haulage even less popular than it already is.
Though we want to see it pay its full costs, we recognise that freight does need to get to markets and that most freight journeys will always be on roads. Some small scale bypasses may be useful, (though the Roads Review gave more priority to big motorway widenings). But building new roads needs to be assessed against other options, like traffic restraint and improving alternatives. For long distance and European journeys, hauliers might be better off supporting the piggyback rail scheme which could provide dedicated freight services for trailers at lower
costs. In the meantime, hauliers should think long and hard before supporting road schemes that will simply promote more car use and longer, wider traffic jams. Stephen Joseph
Director, Transport 2000, London NW Z.