How to get Britain moving
Experts have their say on clearing UK’S £9bn jam chaos
TRAFFIC jams on the UK’S motorways and A-roads cost the economy £9billion a year in lost productivity, according to a new study.
Research by traffic analyst Inrix shows drivers encountered 1.35 million jams in the UK in the past 12 months, accounting for more than 3,700 every day. This was estimated to cost the economy billions in lost productivity, wasted fuel and pollution.
Although Highways England says 85 per cent of jams are cleared within an hour, some take several hours to fix.
The worst traffic jam occurred on 4 August on the M5 in Somerset after two lorries collided. The 36-mile tailback took workers 15 hours to clear and was estimated to cost £2.36million. Other major incidents included three separate accidents on the M6 between December last year and April this year. Each caused at least seven hours of delays, with the worst costing the economy over £1.1m.
The Government is said to be demanding highways agencies work quicker to reduce delays caused by accidents, roadworks and congestion on motorways and A-roads. According to a letter seen by The Times from transport minister Jesse Norman to Highways England, the Government is now urging agencies to consider solutions including using sliproads as contraflows to clear traffic more quickly. We polled road experts on their ideas to help highways agencies reduce jams across the country.
“Government is said to be demanding agencies work quicker to reduce delays on motorways and A-roads”