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TRANSPORTROADSIt is almost impossible to consider transport policy without getting sidetracked into what should be just one aspect of the issue - road-building - but one that has entirely dominated transportation discussion and action for far too long. On both trunk and other A roads, where there has been a conjectured problem (perhaps with heavy or slow traffic or accident levels) we have yet to see a response that considers all the potential options of engineering, pricing and management of travel demand. Instead the highways authorities seem always to plump for an engineering solution providing new roads or widened carriageways, whilst perhaps undertaking a minuscule piece of demand management investigation as an add-on after the decision has anyway already been taken. It is clear though, that trying to build our way out of the shambles created by traffic growth only makes matters worse. The more road-space provided, the more that people will use their cars more on both new and longer trips. This was accepted by government several years ago, and yet road-building has continued almost unabated. Whilst we are more interested in proposing constructive alternatives to road building than fighting schemes, it is impractical to ignore some of the worst of the plans. For instance:
To listen to Cornwall County Council and some of the business sector you';d think that nothing less than Cornwall';s survival was down to a six mile stretch of road and that our economy would crumple if we did not build the road and save a projected 90 seconds on journey times. CFoETG was the only organization to consistently campaign for protection of the Moor AND propose positive sustainable solutions to problems. We were successful in raising the profile of the areas'; conservation value and legal safeguards, but much less so in halting what we still consider to be a massively inappropriate solution - the more than doubling of road space by the building of an entirely new A30 route through the north side of the Moor and open countryside, whilst still leaving most of the old A30 open to vehicle use (see Goss Moor Briefing). Where its at now: as anyone who travels by road in central Cornwall cannot have failed to notice, the road is currently being built with an appallingly colossal impact on the environment.
Since the building of the Eden project at a china clay quarry
near St Austell, the area has been subject to massive upheaval and
efforts to increase the size of the local economy. In the wake of
these developments has come traffic growth, especially congestion
caused by Eden itself - which for all its very positive environmental
message, attracts vast car visitor numbers (its car park has over
3000 spaces compared to, for instance, an entire Truro provision
of less than 1900 car park spaces) - causing considerable hold-ups
around the town, but also congestion and danger in the clay villages
and the predictable calls for upgrading of roads. Where it's at now: In February 2006 the Government Office for the South West announced withdrawal of priority funding status for the project. What we'd like to see: a proper study into the potential for demand management plus, especially in this case, a sizeable annual reduction of car park spaces at Eden until it is reduced to a level agreed by the attraction and local and highway authorities, community and environmental groups etc. We have suggested to the county council that they ask the regional assembly to allocate significant funds (from a central government Transport Innovation Fund) for a groundbreaking demand management initiative based on this road. We have not had a response, although some local MPs are interested (further info available from CFoETG).
Another road building proposal - or as the county council puts it: ' construction of new road, three roundabouts, a viaduct crossing the River Camel and two overbridges ' ; this time an entirely new route that would bisect the supposedly heavily protected Camel Valley Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in order to, says the highway authority, reduce the impact of traffic on the narrow town centre main street of Camelford - but would also have the effect of opening up countryside to developers. Several routes optioned to the public, but one - that follows a largely existing highway, has not been subject to the same level of investigation as the highways authority';s favoured one. Again our request for demand management investigation was ignored. Where it's at now: In February 2006 the Government Office for the South West announced withdrawal of priority funding status for the project. What we'd like to see: a proper study into the potential for demand management and serious investigation into small scale engineering solutions to Camelford';s car intrusion problems.
A stage in the county councils manoeuvre for the full-blown dualling of the entire A30 through Cornwall, despite there being less environmentally damaging and longer term solutions to what the county council say is a problem of too much traffic. This scheme is noteworthy for its astonishing proposed costs, of £125million or £14million per mile and a cost escalation in 2 years of 2400%! CFoETG wrote to the National Audit Committee raising the issue in 2004 and have presented information on what this amount of money could provide in terms of alternative sustainable transport options (further info available from CFoETG). Where its at now: As with the Camelford and A391 schemes, in February 2006 the Government Office for the South West announced withdrawal of priority funding status for the project. And in April 2006, the Highways Agency said that the project is not considered a priority and that it would therefore not be built for at least ten years. What we'd like to see: The cost alone demands that this scheme is put on hold until there has been a detailed accounting of the price and then research into our suggested alternative options. If you are worried or angry about a particular proposal, we can give you tips on the procedures that the highway authorities are supposed to follow and suggestions for the best line of attack. |
