A £5.5bn package of major national and local transport measures has been
unveiled. The improvements tackle some of the country's most serious transport
problems and include significant improvements to the M1, M4, M5, and the M6 -
as well as new proposals to protect the World Heritage Site of Stonehenge alongside
the A303 in Wiltshire.
Nineteen major new local transport schemes - including light rail services, new
public transport interchanges, dedicated bus corridors, town centre accessibility
improvements, and local road improvements - have also been given the go-ahead,
subject to necessary statutory procedures.
Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling has given the green light to
schemes which will:
Tackle congestion:
- plans to widen the M6 between Manchester and Birmingham from three
to four lanes (between junctions 19 and 11a) together with junction improvements,
safety and traffic management measures;
- plans to widen the M1 in the East Midlands generally to 4 lanes
(between junctions 21 and 30) together with junction improvements, safety
and traffic management measures;
- provision of climbing lanes for HGVs and junction improvements
on sections of the M4 and M5 near Bristol;
- plans to improve the A453 from the M1 to Nottingham;
- go-ahead for junction improvements on the A419 Commonhead junction
near Swindon;
- up to 1,600 traffic management schemes and over 400 new or improved
road junctions;
- up to 55 new or extended park and ride schemes;
Improve safety and reliability:
- completing dualling of the A1 between Morpeth and Alnwick;
- dualling most of the remaining single carriageway on the A303
and improving sections of the A30 west of Exeter;
- confirmation of funding approval for extensions to Metrolink,
the tram system in Manchester;
- approval in principle, subject to statutory procedures, of plans
to develop Merseytram, a major new light rail line in Liverpool;
- bus priority measures in Middlesbrough, Wokingham and Walsall;
- around 5,500 local road safety and traffic calming schemes, including
900 projects involving new lighting or CCTV and around 900 safe routes to
school schemes;
- over 1000 km of cycle tracks and lanes and over 1,750 new cycle
parking facilities, such as stands and lockers.
Aid quality of life:
- a £183m 2.1 kilometre bored tunnel option for the upgrade
of the A303 past Stonehenge - protecting the World Heritage Site from heavy
traffic and facilitating the development of a new visitor centre;
- approval for bypasses of Reighton in North Yorkshire and Ashton
in Tameside and on the A69 at Haydon Bridge in Northumberland, and the A228
at Leybourne in Kent;
- £600 million for local maintenance for local authorities;
- new bus stations in Norwich, North Manchester business park and
Warrington;
- up to 200 km of new footpaths, footway improvements or pedestrianisation
and around 3,500 new or improved road crossings;
- improved pedestrian and cyclist access in Nottingham, Middlesbrough,
Walsall, Warrington, Norwich and Wokingham;
- the award of over £550,000 to 14 pilot schemes that promote
the development of personalised travel planning schemes to help people to
make more environmentally friendly travel choices
Alistair Darling said:
"We are committed to putting right decades of under-investment. Nationally,
by improving the strategic road network - widening parts of the M6 and M1 -
and accelerating the work on the West Coast Main Line, we are transforming major
transport corridors in the country to bring real benefits for decades to come.
Locally, by providing the funds for councils to deliver the vital transport
improvements that local people want."
