Accelerated work on motorways should be road to success for freight says FTA
Monday 26 November 2012
Following the news that the government is to introduce major improvements to the way road schemes are planned and built, the Freight Transport Association has said that it can only be good news for the logistics industry.
The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, announced that three of England’s motorways would see increased capacity by spring 2015 thanks to acceleration of upgrades to the roads, benefitting motorists and hauliers.
Thanks to a new way of working which is planned for the future, lanes will be added to motorways in up to half the time it normally takes.
The planned acceleration of work will be achieved by taking more work off-site and bringing it to site as pre-fabricated/pre-assembled units, and moving towards a 24-hour operation, with more people on site working on multiple phases at once.
The news has been welcomed by FTA, which has campaigned for many years with regard to the lengthy process in the delivery of road improvement schemes, despite them having already passed the planning and financial approval stages.
The three schemes being accelerated are:
M3 J2 to 4a, Surrey
M6 J10a to 13, West Midlands
M1 J28 to 31, Derbyshire
In addition, vital improvements to the A160/A180 route to the Port of Immingham are scheduled to start in the summer of 2015 and be completed in autumn 2016 - cutting 18 months off the original construction timetable.
The schemes on the M3, M6, and M1, and the A160 Immingham dualling scheme, are vital trade routes for road freight, and have been identified by FTA members as in need of urgent improvement.
Malcolm Bingham, Head of Road Network Management Policy for FTA said:
"New approaches to accelerated delivery are very welcome. There is public concern that when motorway schemes are being carried out there seem to be long periods of time when no work is being done. Moving towards a 24-hour operation, with more people working on multiple phases at once, will of course speed up the delivery and most importantly demonstrate that works are being done as quickly as possible."
FTA Press Office
01892 552255
press.office@fta.co.uk
