Bedford Driving Lessons

Road schemes aimed at easing traffic congestion have resulted in ‘rat-runs’ around British towns and allowed motorists to speed, an analysis of Highways Agency projects has shown. Around £1 billion a year is being spent on road schemes which are not working, the Campaign for Better Transport said. The Agency not only relied on inaccurate forecasts of future traffic patterns but also underestimated the impact on air quality, noise and greenhouse gas emissions, the Campaign claimed. It examined four recent schemes: the A6 Great Glen Bypass in Leicestershire; the A650 Bingley Relief Road, West Yorkshire; the A11 Roundham Heath to Attleborough in Norfolk and the A27 Polegate Bypass in East Sussex. Based on an inspection of the Highways Agency’s own evaluation of the schemes, the Campaign said the projects failed to ease traffic congestion. Instead it found the traffic increased significantly on all the roads, triggering demands for yet more bypasses. Residents complained that far from relieving villages, new problems had been created by drivers taking shortcuts. Where traffic had fallen, cars were now driving too fast, they said. More