Fixing Britain’s chronic road congestion has finally been made a government priority with £1 billion allocated to building and improving bypasses.
After years of neglect government announces plan to improve A-roads
The project, which will upgrade approximately 3,800 miles of A-roads, is to be funded directly from the road tax - Vehicle Excise Duty (VED). Councils will now bid for money from this pot of funds, estimated to be £1 billion, to improve roads around the most congested cities and avoid rural areas badly affected by traffic.
Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, says the move to ring-fence road tax money in this manner is a sign that the current government is willing to act strongly to keep the country’s roads moving. “This government is taking the big transport decisions for Britain’s future like HS2 and Heathrow, while delivering the biggest investment in roads and rail for a generation. At the heart of our approach is a plan to make transport work for the people who use it and for the wider economy,” says Grayling.
Herd Recruitment's role in the transport and logistics industry allows us to see how a lack of investment in our roads has impacted drivers and businesses. For many years, governments have blamed environmental pressures for the lack of investment in roads. The idea that cutting spending would encourage freight to move off our roads is ridiculous. Britain's roads are its commercial lifeblood and so investment is vital to ensure transport businesses can continue operating effectively.
It will take some time before the impact of this investment project is felt. Whether it will be enough to positively affect the problem after so many years of neglect and as traffic volumes continue to grow remains to be seen. But anything that helps eases the pressure on our roads is to be applauded and will hopefully encourage future governments to invest rather than ignore Britain’s roads.