Councils must stop abusing green roads cash
If implemented well, the scheme can transform the urban environment – but it requires sensible planning
I’m a petrol-head. Well, perhaps more accurately an electric head. I drive an electric car and it wows me with its technology and refinement. I drive for pleasure and for work, and believe our roads should be good to drive on.
There a false dichotomy expressed by some about the car. For the planet to survive, the car must die, they say. What I say is the car must evolve, and as rapidly as possible. In the meantime, we must fix our roads and keep the main arteries of our economy flowing.
That’s why I fought for a record £27billion to upgrade the roads our country depends on; going further than ever to ensure they are safe, well maintained and help keep people and goods moving. This is the largest road programme in our history. And we are putting a further £2billion into filling in the blight of potholes that plague drivers and cyclists on the local roads so many of us use every day.
We are tackling bottlenecks, helping people to get to work, and simply out and about – it’s one of the central roles of my job as Transport Secretary.
None of this means ignoring the increasingly vital role of walking and cycling, which the Covid pandemic has thrust up the priority list. Or railways and trams, which offer travel fuelled by multiple sources of energy. But it does mean acknowledging the fact that the car has bestowed a degree of freedom that no one wants to surrender.
Roads are not the problem. It’s the millions of internal combustion engines running along them contributing to climate change. Engines that pump out harmful pollution when gridlocked on poor and inadequate highways, particularly in urban areas. We must change the vehicles using roads, not condemn ourselves to transport paralysis by stopping road building in its tracks but ensuring we have the right capacity where we need it.
For those who say we shouldn’t be building roads, I say there is nothing green about standing still in traffic, pumping out CO2 and pollution. And either way, the future will be zeroemission cars which reduce dramatically the harm done to the environment.
People are waking up to the electric vehicle revolution. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents car manufacturers, recently showcased the dozens of new models on offer. And soon, green number plates will help make everyone aware that their numbers are growing exponentially – 5 per cent so far this year as opposed to around 1.5 per cent last year.
As part of this great road building revolution, we also want to make our roads more accessible for everyone, including the millions who have taken up cycling and walking as a way to get fit and complete shorter journeys. That’s why we have asked local authorities to come up with schemes to help all types of road user.
Done well – and I stress the “done well” – it is transforming our towns and cities, offering people the chance to walk and cycle safely, improving our fitness, health and the environment around us. Millions of people, the vast majority of them non-cyclists, have already benefited from measures to reduce rat-running through narrow residential streets, cut danger to children around schools, make walking easier and provide safe space for cycling on main roads. These measures sometimes cause noisy opposition, but surveys show they are very popular with the silent majority.
But as you would expect with things which are trials, not everything has worked. That’s why they are trials – so they can be changed. Some councils have introduced random one-way systems, which don’t seem to offer many benefits to anyone. Some of those plastic barriers that have gone up in town centres to widen the pavements can actually prevent pedestrians, including disabled people, crossing the road. They narrow the carriageway for traffic, causing congestion and increasing danger for cyclists. They reduce parking for essential visits to the pharmacy or dentist or doctor. And they don’t seem to be much used by pedestrians either. So a number of them will be coming out soon. We are also telling councils that now the height of the emergency has passed, there is time to consult people more.
Where some councils have abused the cash, my message is clear: speak to local residents, get it fixed or no more cash.
Environmental campaigners are not the only ones who care about pollution. Which motorist or lorry driver has not sat in a traffic jam and not been depressed by the fumes pumped out by stationary vehicles? We all want greener road transport. And as an electric car driver myself, I know the benefits. But let’s have decent roads for all users.
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