RHA Recovery Group says "Give us a break Mr Livingstone"
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Active Transport Management - a "Qualified" success says RHA
The Road Haulage Association listened keenly to Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly’s “Delivery Choice and Reliability” speech made at the Department for Transport on Tuesday 4 March. “There was much in there to digest,” said RHA Chief Executive Roger King.
“I questioned her description of the M42 hard shoulder as a “running lane” as part of the trial scheme. Whilst traffic flows have improved with its introduction it currently is no more than an extended slip road because when in operation all traffic using it must leave at the next junction. We have consistently asked for through junction running to take place so that the true benefits of hard shoulder running can be tested. To consider similar M42 schemes elsewhere on the network without trialling this concept to the full is premature to say the least”.
The RHA is also concerned that the Secretary of State’s suggestion that ATM (active transport management / hard shoulder running), could be viewed as an alternative to a proper widening scheme is gaining credibility.
“The Secretary of State cited the M1 running north from the East Midlands up to Leeds as an example. We would strongly deplore this. The road needs a proper increase in capacity that only an additional lane can provide” continued Roger King.
The RHA is very concerned by the suggestion that individual motorway lanes could have different speed limits. “Every motorist would try to use the fastest lane which would then become the slowest causing further lane switching”, cautioned Roger King. “And how could you monitor speed limit observance with all the inevitable lane switching and hasty speed adjustments? This might work if a lane in question is reserved for cars carrying passengers or paying a toll, but not in any other form”.
The RHA notes the Secretary of State wishes to explore with road users all these ideas and others as she works towards a Green Paper this summer. “The RHA will play a full role in this”, concluded Roger King “because we need all the options we can get to keep traffic flowing”.
