UK roads need £4bn a year to rival Europe

by Geraldine Faulkner



An additional £4bn/year must be spent on the UK's roads network by the Government in its forthcoming 10-year transport plan if the transport system is to rival the best in Europe, the British Road Federation warned last week.

According to BRF, average annual expenditure on roads will need to rise from £5.1bn in 1999/2000 to £9.1bn/year over the next decade.

The Federation said priority areas should include maintenance, completion of the roads programme as well as traffic management and safety schemes.

"This package needs to be implemented if the Government is going to deliver on its promise of a world-class transport system for Britain," said BRF director Richard Diment.

"This will not come cheap, but it is the cost of under-investment by previous Governments. It will cost billions, not millions, to put this right."

The Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions refused to give an exact date when the transport plan is going to be published. A DETR spokesman said that while money has been allocated for the road network "road building is not the answer to all our problems" and the 10-year plan will look at the transport system as a whole.