Roads: Construction

(asked on 5th October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's £27 billion road building programme on (a) overall road traffic volumes and (b) congestion on unimproved roads linked to roads funded under that programme.


Answered by
Rachel Maclean Portrait
Rachel Maclean
This question was answered on 8th October 2020

Through the second Road Investment Strategy, the Government is investing £27.4 billion in the operation, maintenance, renewal and enhancement of England’s Strategic Road Network (SRN) between 2020 and 2025. This investment focuses on both making journeys safer and more reliable, and minimising the SRN’s effects on adjacent local communities and environments.

The impact of enhancements on future traffic flows in an area is considered on a scheme by scheme basis as options are assessed and developed, including through consultation with local highway authorities and other interested parties. World-leading traffic models that provide a consistent approach to traffic modelling of the SRN have been developed and used by Highways England to forecast how traffic flows and speeds change following infrastructure investment. They take account of the latest evidence on how increased road capacity impacts on traffic volumes and economic welfare (the concept of ‘induced demand’). They include a representation of not just the SRN but also the local road network to model wider impacts, such as congestion.

We continue to build on our evidence base to ensure that we have the most robust methodology possible for assessing the induced effects of increasing road capacity.

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