Road to higher gvw?
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EIGHT by-passes have been added to the Government's trunk roads programme for England, in a move calculated to ease the progress to higher gross vehicle weights. ALAN MILLAR reports.
In the 1981 Roads White Paper published last week, Transport Secretary David Howell has authorised the resumption of work on preparing six schemes which were on the Department of Transport's suspended list, and has added another two.
The six schemes which have been reactivated are the £17m (November 1979 prices) A46 Newark relief road, in Nottinghamshire, which is now in reserve for 1984/85; the £25.7m A6(M) Stockport and Hazel Grove by-pass now in the 1986 main programme; the £16.6m A4/A46 Batheaston/Swainswick by-pass in Avon; the £6.6m A35 Axminster by-pass in Devon; the A59 Burscough by-pass in Lancashire; and the £14.4m A6 Bur ton Latimer/Rushden by-pass in Northamptonshire. The last four are in reserve for 1986.
The two new schemes are both in Cumbria, and have been added to the reserve programme for 1986. One is the A595 Egremont by-pass, the other the A596 Wigton by-pass.
Commenting on the programme, which was issued last week with surprisingly little fanfare, Mr Howell said: "This brings to 15 the total of bypasses added or restored to the programme in the last few months. The Government is of course committed to a vigorous programme of new by-passes as a crucial part of its policy for achieving a more civilised development of freight transport."
He said that recently opened roads have already taken traffic out of about 40 towns and villages, and a similar number will benefit from schemes already started. In addition, local authorities are pursuing their own by-pass programmes.
"Taken together, nearly 100 communities can now see their by-pass actually being built and at least another 120 towns and villages will benefit from schemes to be started in the next two to three years," Mr Howell added.
Freight Transport Association director-general Hugh Featherstone was quick to endorse the Government's action, commenting: "We are delighted to see the greater emphasis on progressing the by-pass programme."
But his welcome contrasts with the view of a Road Haulage Association spokesman who told CM: "Any announcement of new road or by-passes is welcome, but this is much too little and much too late."
The bigger question which still remains is whether these few extra schemes will be sufficient to persuade Conservative backbench rebels of the merits of the Government's proposals for increases in gross weights to 40 tonnes.
Some of the 60 MPs now known to be opposed to Mr Howell's proposals are spoiling for a kill, and look like insisting on the deletion of the 40-tonner, and probably also the 34-tonner from the package. It remains to be seen whether they will also insist on double-drive tractive units for 38-tonne work, and severe restrictions on the use of drawbar outfits.