Friends of the Earth: Press Release: 'Scrap the Dirty Dozen'

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'Scrap the Dirty Dozen'

27 Jul 1998

Scrapping just twelve of Britain's most useless road schemes could mean an extra £2 billion for public transport, Friends of the Earth revealed today. That's £39 a head for everyone in the country. Scrapping the schemes would also save up to eleven Sites of Special Scientific Interest - the best wildlife sites in the country. John Prescott will announce the results of the Government's road review this week [1].

The 'dirty dozen' worst road projects (list attached) include plans to widen the M25, M23,M1 and M6, proposed bypasses in Hastings, Bingley, Dunstable and Hereford, the upgrading of the A206 North Circular Road in London and a whole new motorway to the south of Newport in Gwent. Fears are growing that - in a pro-car U-turn only days after his Transport White Paper - Mr Prescott may give the green light to M25 widening, and to the M1 and M6 projects. FOE has already accused the Government of a sweetheart deal with British Airways and BAA, linking M25 widening to the building of Heathrow Terminal 5.

In all, the Government is reviewing 138 proposed trunk road schemes with a cost of over£6bn. Of these, 40 are bypasses, 20 are widening schemes and the rest are upgrades or extensions. The Government has proposed substantial “detrunking” of the network in its White Paper - handing over national roads to local control. 17 of the schemes are on routes which are likely to be “detrunked”.

Roger Higman, Senior Transport Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
“Blowing two billion pounds on road-building is only going to ruin the countryside and get more people driving. In many cases plans already exist to upgrade parallel and competing rail lines. Giving these roads the go ahead will just undermine attempts to get more people and freight onto rail. If Mr Prescott is serious about cutting road traffic, he should scrap these schemes and put the money saved into public transport”.

NOTE TO EDITORS:
[1] Labour's manifesto committed it to 'an overall strategic review of the roads programme against the criteria of accessibility, safety, economy and environmental impact'. It launched reviews of the roads programmes in England and Wales in July 1997.
Click here for list of dirty dozen roads

Contact details:

Friends of the Earth
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N1 7JQ

Tel: 020 7490 1555
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Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html

Media team