Archived press release

Battle of the M25 computer models - Mawhinney must scuttle his flagship

1 February 1995

Friends of the Earth called on Transport Secretary, Dr Brian Mawhinney to scuttle his Department's flagship plan for a fourteen lane M25 [1], following the publication of an alternative by Surrey County Council today [2].

Surrey County Council's alternative, developed for an expected public inquiry later this year, is based on far more sophisticated computer modelling than that carried out by the Department of Transport. This shows that:

n traffic on the M25 will be prevented from growing to the levels forecast by the Department of Transport, by congestion on surrounding roads [3];

n rising congestion on local roads will also prevent traffic rising to levels necessary to justify plans to widen the M3 and M23 to eight lanes [3];

The Department of Transport is now spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a "big gun" computer model of its own. Dr Mawhinney, who inherited the link roads plan from former Transport Secretaries, should save face and public money by accepting Surrey's results and scuttling the link roads plan, rather than risk facing the humiliation of the plans being thrown out at public inquiry.

Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth's Transport Campaigner said:

"Surrey County Council's firepower looks likely to blow the Department of Transport's listing link roads plan clean out of the water, if it is debated at public inquiry. Dr Mawhinney must scuttle it himself if his reputation as a reforming Transport Secretary isn't to be irreparably damaged."

ENDS

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PAGE 2 FRIENDS OF THE EARTH NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] In June 1992, the Department of Transport published detailed plans for three lane link roads alongside the M25 near Staines. These plans have been opposed by over 11,000 objectors, County and District Councils affected and MPs throughout Surrey. A public inquiry into the link roads plans was originally scheduled to take place in 1994. However it has been delayed amid rumours that the plans will be scrapped.

[2] Surrey County Council today published an alternative plan to manage traffic in the M25 area. Two options are proposed. One would involve restricting the motorway to eight lanes, the other widening key western sections to ten lanes while keeping the motorway within its existing boundary. Development of the alternative involved the creation of a o200,000 computer model of traffic around the M25 - a far larger and more sophisticated model than that used by the Department of Transport.

[3] Geoffrey Lamb, County Director of Highways and Transportation Road Policy and Motorway Tolling - a local authority viewpoint - supplement 15-16 September, 1994

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