News from the New Party

Stealth tax ‘shooting galleries’ creating killer roads

The government is placing revenue creation above people’s safety by continuing to dabble in low-cost alternatives rather than investing heavily in proper road building schemes, New Party leader Richard Vass said today.

Speaking on the day the country’s second hard shoulder running scheme was opened on an 11km stretch of the M6 near Birmingham by transport minister Chris Mole, Vass said it was yet another case of stealth tax winning out over investment.

“Let’s not mince words, the government is creating killer roads. A survey earlier this year* showed £8.5billion is now needed to bring roads in England and Wales up to scratch. Local authorities only get half the road maintenance budgets they need.

“The authors state that the lack of funding ‘…is causing concern among highway engineers over road user safety’. And the government expects a pat on the back because it is saving money by finding new ways to get speed cameras on the roads. It is shocking.

“On the M6 scheme there are 23 overhead gantries across two junctions, each with at least one average speed camera. This isn’t traffic calming it is a stealth tax shooting gallery,” Vass said today.

A recent RAC Foundation report** stated that 600 lane-km every year are needed to meet UK capacity. Yet the wider use of the hard shoulder being touted by the Government will only lead to a one-off increase of 800 lane-km.

The New Party believes that while congestion reduction schemes have a part to play in transport policy they will not lead to safer roads. They simply scratch the surface of what is needed, while acting as a gateway to further stealth taxes.

“As well as offering a boost to our deflated construction industry, road-building is key to our future economic aspirations; short-term fixes are not. And knowing this government such schemes will only lead to further creative ways to part us from our money.

“The AA has already pointed out that the gantries on the M42 and M6 are perfectly placed to usher in pay-as-you-go toll lanes just as has happened in the US. Watch that space," said Vass today.

Failure to invest in road-building also misses a golden opportunity to increase the number of holding lakes in the UK at a low cost.

These “buffer lakes” would make a significant contribution to reducing run off and lowering the risk of flash flooding that has occurred all too often around industrial, housing or road developments where little consideration has been given to the local hydrology, said Vass today.

Notes for editors
*The 2009 ALARM Survey http://www.asphaltindustryalliance.com/alarm.asp
**The RAC Foundation Roads and Reality report: http://www.racfoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=535&Itemid=31