Simply building bigger roads will not solve crisis of northern road congestion, says Northern Way

17th November 2008

The Northern Way is today warning that any short term fall in traffic levels brought about by an economic slowdown must not be used as an excuse to avoid tackling the long term economic problem of congested roads.

In a series of new reports, the economic development experts show that without intervention, already congested roads in the northern regions are set to buckle under increased pressure over the next twenty years.  This would hamper the North's contribution to the national economic fight back.

The Northern Way argues that simply building bigger roads cannot avert congestion increases. The partnership calls for greater use of innovative technology and 'smarter travel choices'.  These include increases in car sharing and flexible work patterns.

The reports show that the most congested motorways in the North include the M60 around Manchester, the M6 between Manchester and the West Midlands, the M62 and M1 in South and West Yorkshire, and the Newcastle Gateshead A1 Western bypass.

Research findings include:

• Across the North's motorways, congestion makes all journeys 20% longer between 7am and 10am
• This delay is set to increase further, since motorway traffic is projected to increase by over a quarter by 2031
• Increased journey times and less reliable journeys will have a high economic cost for business travel, commuters, and for freight

Professor David Begg, Chair of the Northern Way's Transport Compact said:

"Everyone knows we can't simply build ourselves out of congestion - our environment can't take it and it's unaffordable. There will be a place for some new road building, as part of a package of wider measures.  But a fundamental truth is that we also need to get much more out of our current network."

"In response to higher fuel prices over the summer we have seen a growth in car sharing and some associated benefits for traffic flows. Our research shows the potential benefits to the economy as a whole and to individuals and businesses of a much greater encouragement of 'smarter travel choices'. Smarter choices are about creating alternatives.  Some of the ways of doing this can be really simple.  Examples include businesses being flexible on hours of work, providing opportunities for working compressed hours, using IT to promote video conferencing rather than travel to meetings, or putting close neighbours who want to car share in touch with each other.  Our research shows that smarter travel choices can save individuals money, save businesses money and by reducing the number of cars on the road, also reduce congestion."

"But we also have to make our current roads work much better by investing in technology. The Northern Way is keen to see how the Highways Agency trial of Active Traffic Management on the M42 in the West Midlands will be extended to the North by the Government. The wider roll-out of Active Traffic Management would assist the economic recovery phase. Geoff Hoon's recent announcement that the Government is speeding up its consideration of how Active Traffic Management is more widely applied is therefore very welcome."

"Longer term we will also need to look beyond Active Traffic Management. The centres of research excellence in the North's universities offer an opportunity for the North to be at the forefront of a new wave of technological development to help address congestion in the future."

The reports argue that 'smarter travel choices' offer a wide range of benefits:

• As well as having local benefits, they have the potential to reduce traffic flows on the economically important strategic road network
• This will help average journey times to be shorter and reduce day-to-day variability.
• They will have a positive impact on productivity, with more efficient freight transport and business related travel

The reports also highlight that Active Traffic Management offers a wide range of benefits to motorway users:

• By reducing the differential between the fastest and slowest vehicles on the motorway, it can result in faster average journey times
• Journeys are also more reliable - there is less day-to-day variation in travel time and less stop-start conditions.
• Smoother traffic flows and more reliable journeys mean that there is a reduction in fuel use and less emission of pollutants and green house gases
• And there are fewer accidents and fewer casualties, which as well as being obviously beneficial also reduces disruption to other traffic

Professor Begg added:

"In the North we want to create the circumstances in which the North's economy can grow without our strategic roads becoming like the M25. Already the Northern Way has invested with the Highways Agency in the M62/M606 car share lane, but other barriers to businesses and people adopting smarter travel choices also need to be overcome. That's why the Northern Way is also calling on the City Regions across the North to take a stronger lead in promoting smarter travel choices to businesses and to people, and on government to help them in doing so."

ENDS

Media contacts:

Mark Fuller

Linstock Communications

T: 020 7089 2089

M: 07952 286 223

mark@linstockcommunications.com

Nicola Hughes
The Northern Way

T: 0191 229 6752
M: 07771 805 949
nicola.hughes@thenorthernway.co.uk

Notes to editors:

The Northern Way is today publishing three reports prepared by consultants Steer Davies Gleave.  They cover the problems of congestion on the North's motorways and the benefits of smarter travel choices and intelligent traffic systems to economic growth. These reports are:

• Existing and future traffic and congestion on the North's Strategic Road network
• The role and productivity benefits of smarter travel choices
• Congestion management using Intelligent Transport Systems

As part of a report on Short, Medium and Long Term Transport Priorities, the Northern Way has previously identified its priorities for investment in the motorway and trunk road network. These are:

Port Access:

• A63 Castle Street, Hull
• A5036 Port of Liverpool access
• A160/A180 upgrade to the South Humber ports

Currently congested parts of the network:

• M1 and M62 in South and West Yorkshire
• A1 Newcastle Gateshead Western bypass
• A19 New Tyne Crossing
• M60 junction 12 to 18
• M6/M62 interchange

Network Gaps

• A1 upgrade to motorway in North Yorkshire to close the gap in the motorway network between Newcastle and the M25.
• A556 (M56 to M6)
• A1 Redhouse to Darrington upgrade to motorway
• M6 Manchester to Birmingham improvements