The presumed need for a bypass at Newbury because of heavy North-South traffic is undermined by the official Department of Transport traffic statistics obtained by Friends of the Earth researchers. The data show that 80% of the traffic in Newbury is local or from neighbouring areas, and that just 5% is long-distance through traffic from North to South [1]. The remaining 15% is regional and East-West traffic.

Newbury already has a dual-carriageway around most of the town centre - the original bypass'. This road is free-flowing for most of the day, but is heavily congested with local traffic during peak hours. Berkshire has the highest car ownership per capita in the country [2], and Newbury has particularly poor traffic management and public transport.

Tony Juniper, Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth said:

"The Government's information strongly suggests that the Newbury Bypass is unnecessary. There is no point in building a major trunk road around Newbury when the problem is local traffic."

Susan Millington of Newbury Friends of the Earth said:

"It is clear that local traffic is causing the congestion in Newbury, and we need local solutions to deal with this problem. We look forward to the day when a comprehensive package of traffic management measures is put in place to cut the congestion and pollution from which we all suffer."

Friends of the Earth, working with local groups, has commissioned extensive research into a transport study to deal with the traffic problems of Newbury. The results will be published early next month [3].

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The official Origins and Destinations' data was sent to Friends of the Earth from the Highways Agency last week. It was originally collected in 1983, and was analysed in preparation for the 1988 public inquiry into the Newbury Bypass, and again in 1995 for the Highways Agency review of the Newbury bypass. Long-distance through traffic could be lower than these figures suggest because they do not take into account the opening of the Western sections of the M25.

The data analyses all the trips made through the centre of Newbury relevant to the Newbury bypass by which parts of the country vehicles are travelling to and from. Traffic journeys in Newbury have been segregated into a number of concentric zones, shown on the accompanying map. The official figures are:

Local traffic 60% Traffic from Neighbouring areas' 20% Regional traffic 10% Long distance 5% North-South 5% East-West

[2] Travel in Berkshire. 1994. Royal County of Berkshire.

[3] The remit of consultants working for Friends of the Earth is:

To examine existing and predicted future traffic on the A34 through Newbury and the surrounding road network;

To design a package of policies and practical measures to alleviate the traffic problems of Newbury;

The package of measures will be developed in close consultation with both national and local groups. It will be built on local knowledge, and will be consistent with existing policies and knowledge, including current changes in the Government's transport policies. It will take account of both the short and longer-term. The solutions must be environmentally sensitive, and should set a framework for a long-term sustainable transport and planning strategy in the Newbury area.