“London road improvements are essential” says RHA
Today’s announcements on roads in London marks an important new for transport in the our capital city, says the Road Haulage Association. The intense pressure on roads is set to increase further and we have to ensure the right response.
The framework set out by the mayor’s roads task force and the response from Transport for London recognises the importance of roads in the capital – both the maintenance of roads we have and the potential for new road building. It brings with it a new commitment to improve planning and budgeting that should bring much needed improvements to the network at reduced cost.
London is in the forefront of traffic planning and engineering and we welcome that. The haulage and distribution sector has modernised the way it operates and it clear that TfL is doing the same. It has clearly recognised, post-Olympics, the importance of collection and delivery services by HGVs and other vehicles and that, too, is to be welcomed.
Key questions remain to be debated and decided, however. How and when will money on roads be spent to ensure essential vehicles, such as trucks, can provide the services on which London relies; how successfully can be ensure that adequate provision for the delivery of goods is embedded into the planning process for new developments.
There will be many competing voices and it is essential that the haulage and distribution industry makes its case clearly and forcefully.
