News Heavy delays on region's roads
Motorists endured more than 18 million hours of delays on major roads throughout Yorkshire last year, new figures reveal.
Drivers faced average hold-ups of 10 minutes on a 49-mile journey along the M62, extending the journey time from 42 minutes to nearly 52 - almost 24 per cent.
In total, the Highways Agency estimates motorists incurred 18,290,000 hours of delays - almost 2,088 years - on 11 stretches of road including parts of the M62, the M18 between Goole and Rotherham, the M1 and M180 during 2007.
There have now been calls for the Government to speed up investment in the region's transport infrastructure to avoid things getting worse in the coming years.
Andrew Percy, the Tories' prospective parliamentary candidate for Goole, said: "These figures are appalling and obviously have an impact on economic development.
"We can hardly sell ourselves as an area of economic growth if we have got damning criticism of our motorway network. That's hardly going to encourage businesses to locate here."
Mr Percy pointed to recently-published figures which show that spending on transport infrastructure in the region is well below the national average.
In Yorkshire and the Humber just £219 per head of population is spent on transport infrastructure, compared with the national average of £330. In London more than £600 is spent on transport per head of population.
"We're well below the national average for school funding and council funding as well," said Mr Percy.
"The money has to be distributed more evenly and fairly across the country. As usual the south gains and the north misses out."
Rodney Kumar, a spokesman for the RAC Foundation, said: "This shows there isn't any real long-term strategic planning when it comes to the motorway network and transport."
He also warned there was a "great possibility" that congestion on local motorways could "get worse before it gets better".
Nick Pontone, the director of policy at the Yorkshire and Humber Chamber of Commerce, said: "This reinforces the concern that the road network is affecting not just the regional economy but has quality-of-life implications as well.
"It's dead time, but it's also bad for the environment, as idling cars emit pollution. It's just another warning sign for the urgency for Government improvements to our transport network."
As part of the survey, more than 150 roads were monitored by the Highways Agency, 11 of which are either in or pass through Yorkshire. The results showed that, on one 49-mile stretch of the M62, motorists were delayed by nearly two minutes every 10 miles on the eastbound carriageway last year, while on both directions vehicles lost an estimated 4,801,000 hours in hold-ups.
Published on 24th April 2008 in News.
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