RE: Billions for new roads. Maybe

RE: Billions for new roads. Maybe

Tuesday 11th November 2014

Billions for new roads. Maybe

PM promises cash bonanza for road upgrades. If he wins the general election



We will, of course, understand if your first reaction to a story about a politician promising something for the future is to give unfavourable odds to it actually happening. We're still awaiting that 80mph motorway speed limit we were assured was about to happen several years ago, for a start.

Make the M25 look appealing with a camera
Make the M25 look appealing with a camera
But here's one that's likely to get the debate flowing, with the Prime Minister promising in a speech at the Confederation of British Industry conference he plans to deliver the "biggest, boldest and most far-reaching road improvement programme" for 40 years. We're told that the 'autumn statement' will include plans to allocate another £15bn to new roads and major upgrade projects.

According to newspaper reports, the biggest spends are likely to be on building the long-debated 'Stonehenge tunnel' on the A303. Trunk roads to be upgraded to dual carriageway include the A47 east of Leicester, stretches of the A27 along the south coast and the A1 north of Newcastle. We're also told there will be upgrades to major trans-Pennine routes, lanes added to over-stretched and - reading between the lines - more areas turned into active 'managed motorways.'

Of course, a cynic might point out that there's the small matter of a general election coming next May, and that very little of this is going to be happening before then...

[Source: Telegraph, pics from Highways Agency Flickr]

Author
Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
You'd have to be a fking idiot to believe a word they say on anything. He's telling the CBI what he knows they want to hear, and tomorrow he'll be in front of another group telling them something totally different and the man won't even have the decency to shuffle his feet as he lies to their faces. Until a politician stands up and promises to do "fk all to change the status quo" if they win the next election then they are all liars.

smilo996

2,754 posts

169 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Politics and pandering wins over logic and practicality again. Next week Labour will launch a new election initiatve designed to invest in rail.

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Politician's promise laugh

Clivey

5,108 posts

203 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
He might as well promise a motorway to Mars within the next 5 years... nuts

Uncle John

4,269 posts

190 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Only poliical lip service on the eve of a GE but I've been around the south/south west of the country a fair bit recently the roads are simply saturated.

The M25 needs another one building outside of it, and all trunks off of it are just overloaded as any accident or incident results in 10 mile queues!! Not going to happen though unfortunately.....

TimLambert7

642 posts

124 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
If it happens, fantastic but it won't.

They're all full of sh*t.

What party can an innocent PHer vote for nowadays?

exceed

454 posts

175 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Will eat my Maserati if this comes to fruition

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Uncle John said:
Only poliical lip service on the eve of a GE but I've been around the south/south west of the country a fair bit recently the roads are simply saturated.

The M25 needs another one building outside of it, and all trunks off of it are just overloaded as any accident or incident results in 10 mile queues!! Not going to happen though unfortunately.....
Indeed our small island is massively over populated. Still, the borders are wide open and people continue to have loads of kids so it will continue to get far more crowded. In the future we will have to travel at night to get anywhere.

SydneyBridge

8,500 posts

157 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
where will all this money come from?? increased fuel duty?
really hope the A303 does get a tunnel under Stonehenge though- right pain in the ass that road... recent 'improvements' have made it worse

Sheepshanks

32,526 posts

118 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Uncle John said:
The M25 needs another one building outside of it, and all trunks off of it are just overloaded as any accident or incident results in 10 mile queues!! Not going to happen though unfortunately.....
I thought it was originally intended there would be another ring road inside the M25 - so the outside M25 is the one that's already there?

SteveSteveson

3,209 posts

162 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
So, not only is it unlikely that we will actually see half of this, but the other half is stuff that has been in planning for years and not really new spending at all?

Dion20vt

252 posts

161 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all

skyrover

12,668 posts

203 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
The A1 north of Newcastle has been campaigned for years... far too many have died frown

I seriously have my doubts considering the amount of broken promises, but can anyone see Labour doing any better?

juk

580 posts

250 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
' "biggest, boldest and most far-reaching road improvement programme" for 40 years. ' = more motorway speed cameras.

k-ink

9,070 posts

178 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
juk said:
' "biggest, boldest and most far-reaching road improvement programme" for 40 years. ' = more motorway speed cameras.
Sounds about right.

thatdude

2,654 posts

126 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
I would rather see the money being spent on improving the quality of the current road network. The M25, for example, has some terrible patches which are worse when experieinced on a motorcycle. other roads are also very bad.

Gecko1978

9,603 posts

156 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
would some more toll roads go a miss like the M6. I understand its not very profitable but its my fave road in the UK use it every weekend an its just smooth emptyish highway with a nice (as usual expensive) service station

loomx

327 posts

224 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
'more areas turned into active 'managed motorways.'

Nope... Do not want.

moffat

1,020 posts

224 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
I want improved roads, I'm in.

fatboy18

18,930 posts

210 months

Tuesday 11th November 2014
quotequote all
Dion20vt said:
+1 COULD NOT AGREE MORE