Alliance against road building

PRESS RELEASE – 20th July 2006

M6 EXPRESSWAY KILLED OFF - VICTORY FOR ANTI-ROADS GROUPS

Reacting to the announcement today [1] that the government has rejected the idea of a new tolled M6 motorway between Birmingham and Manchester, Road Block said this was a great victory for local residents, the Group Against Motorway Expansion (GAME), CPRE and Friends of the Earth. Road Block said this marked the end of the era of fantasising about a new generation of parallel tolled new motorways.

However the alliance against roadbuilding warned that the proposed new widening would inevitably mean more traffic growth, despite government assurances that measures would be put in place to prevent this. The alliance said that new widening proposals along the M1 have been approved with none of these promised measures. The proposed widening also would be very destructive to the Staffordshire and Cheshire countryside, and bring more noise and pollution to residents.

In 2004 when the government consulted on the idea of an Expressway (tolled parallel motorway), there was a massive response (over 9,500) with 98% of respondents saying they did not want the new road. Despite the overwhelming rejection the government announced a study of widening or building a new road in July 2005 [2]. Two years after the first consultation the government have accepted what the public said first time round and have finally ditched the concept of the parallel motorway, but announced a study into widening.

Road Block Coordinator, Rebecca Lush said:

"This is a great victory for the residents and countryside of Staffordshire and Cheshire. This is the end of the era of fantasies of parallel tolled motorways. There is a place for road pricing, and that is on existing roads. Widening the M6 is not a solution either as it will mean more traffic and more CO2. Widening motorways is like digging a ditch in a bog, and a very quick way to waste billions of pounds. In the middle of this climate crisis, the government should be investing in measures to reduce traffic growth. Promised measures to 'lock in the benefits' of roadbuilding often fail to materialise".

Notes to Editors:

[1] Written Statement to Parliament by Roads Minister, Stephen Ladyman
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents/page/dft_roads_612140.hcsp

[2] http://www.roadblock.org.uk/press_releases/2005-07-20A.htm