UK NEWS

HOLIDAY HELL ON THE ROADS

The risk of gridlocks are very high this Summer

Thursday July 16,2009

By Anil Dawar

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MOTORISTS are facing a long summer of chaos, with over half the nation’s motorway system crippled by roadworks.

More than 900 miles of so-called improvements are scheduled to take place in England next month bringing hours of misery for gridlocked families, it emerged yesterday.

Critics attacked the “astonishing” decision to carry out the extensive works when some 30 million Britons are expected to take their holiday in the UK to save money.

There is no prospect of escape from the jams, with disruption forecast across the entire network.

About 340 roadworks schemes are planned on England’s 1,600 miles of motorways in August.

The chaos will be made even worse when railway staff on National Express East Anglia and Cross Country go on strike in the coming weeks.

The confusion will add more weight to the Daily Express’s Get Britain Moving crusade for a fairer deal for drivers. Car owners pay £45billion a year in motoring taxes, but just one sixth of that is ploughed back into roads.

Congestion costs the economy about £20billion, with 140 million working hours lost in traffic jams last year.

Figures released by the Department for Transport yesterday revealed the worst hit region next month would be the North- west, with more than 303 miles of motorway affected by 190 different schemes.

In Yorkshire and the North- east, 69 projects will disrupt nearly 210 motorway miles.

This will mean congestion on roads to popular holiday destinations like the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

Drivers in the West Midlands will see traffic cones and speed restrictions along 288 miles of the local network caused by 52 schemes.

In Eastern England, 35.8 miles will be affected, with 34 miles in the South-west, 22.5 miles in the South-east and 15 miles in the East Midlands.

Edmund King, president of the AA, said his research showed at least half of all Britons were planning to holiday in this country instead of travelling abroad.

“In normal years August is a quiet month on the roads and the disruption would not have been that great,” Mr King said.

“But the statistics show this year is not going to be normal. There are going to be many more people on the roads and the Highways Agency should have taken that into account.

“It is astonishing that the bulk of works are in the North, which is a hugely popular area for holidaymakers.

“Let’s hope people aren’t left sweltering in their cars or we could see road rage incidents.”

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, who asked for the statistics to be released, said: “Just as families are planning to get away this summer they face hours of motorway misery.

“Spending hot days sitting in traffic isn’t anyone’s idea of a holiday, but with hundreds of miles of roadworks planned and likely engineering works on many rail lines too, it seems that chaos may be hard to avoid.”

Hugh Blaydon of the Association of British Drivers said: “It is already one massive car park in the South-west, more disruption is going to make it even worse.”

John Franklin of the RAC added: “It is going to be a nightmare for people to get around.

“There’s never a good time for roadworks but they could have been scheduled for another month. It’s going to cause a lot of problems.”

Yesterday a spokesman for the Highways Agency said: “These figures include routine maintenance which is often carried out at night to minimise disruption, as well as larger schemes to improve the road network.

“We keep as many lanes as we can open during the day and over the Bank Holiday weekend we will be helping drivers by finishing roadworks before the holiday where it is safe and cost-effective to do so.”

HOLIDAY TRAFFIC

16.07.09, 8:16pm

There has been holiday traffic chaos since the 1950,s , you are just trying to stir the fertilizer as usual. OLCROM

• Posted by: OLCROM • Report Comment

CONFUSING

16.07.09, 12:04pm

that the DE is campaigning about only one sixth of revenue from taxes on motoring being put back into the roads and then complaining when they do spend some.
Thousands of people are employed working on the roads, do you suggest they all get made redundant for the summer? But then they can't rely on the winter weather either so they may as well jack it in and let the roads fall apart! The roads are not just for people going on holiday.
Perhaps more holiday makers should be encouraged to travel at night and leave the roads freer during the day for those that really need them.

• Posted by: inky • Report Comment