Hayes expounds on the benefits of an expanded road programme

The Government is gearing up for a big increase in spending on England’s strategic road network. But could this revive the anti-road protest movement? Roads minister John Hayes tells Andrew Forster about the plans

Not so very long ago the idea of a big road investment programme in England seemed rather fanciful. Protests against many of the schemes proposed in the 1990s made the whole programme controversial. The mantra that ‘new roads generate traffic’ framed policy discussions and even the pro-road lobby groups seemed to lose their voices. Funding pressures also took their toll and so, in the last decade, only a handful of new scheme starts have been made each year. 

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