England Jam-Buster Project Made Traffic Worse – As Congestion Costs The UK £8bn

UK Traffic Congestion

Measures to tackle traffic jams on some of England’s most congested roads have actually made the situation worse, according to latest findings.

Although the £317m Highways England pinch point programme resulted in cuts to rush hour journey times, the benefits were outweighed by delays at other times of the day.

The study comes as separate analysis found that traffic congestion cost the UK economy nearly £8bn last year.

Highways England evaluated the impact of almost half of 119 schemes on motorways and major roads carried out as part of the jam-busting pinch point plan.

It found that longer journey times at off-peak periods cost £5.6m, while shorter trips at peak times showed a benefit amounting to £5.1m in the programme’s first year.

The junction of the A5 and A49 in Shropshire, junction 23 of the M6 in Merseyside and junction 9 of the M40 in Oxfordshire were found to be among the worst affected.

Introduced in 2011, the pinch point programme was designed to alleviate congestion, improve safety and stimulate economic growth.

The Highways England Report examined the success of nearly 50 per cent of the schemes and found they had increased journey times overall. It identified the introduction of traffic signals as the main issue.

The report said that in 44 per cent of schemes the introduction of “signilisation” had hit traffic at off-peak times.

When the impact was worked out over a 24-hour period, journey times overall were made worse.

The report urged that the effect of initiatives across the entire week and not only in the “10 to 30 peak hours” must be considered.

A Highways England spokesman pointed out the findings revealed that pinch point schemes had successfully tackled congestion at the busiest times as well as improving safety.

The report comes after a major study found that traffic jams last year cost the UK economy an estimated £7.9 billion.

Heavy traffic congestion means pollution levels rise, productivity is hit, and businesses find it harder and less competitive to transport goods. It also increases the risk of road traffic accidents.

Transport data analysts Inrix number-crunched the gridlock costs.

Road users in London lost up to £1,680, followed by Edinburgh on £1,219, Manchester £1,157 and Leicester came in fourth at £1,145. Liverpool had the lowest cost, at £878 per driver.

Inrix transportation analyst Trevor Reed said that, left unaddressed, congestion would continue to have serious consequences for “national and local economies, businesses and citizens in the years to come.”

Heading the list of the world’s most gridlocked cities by population was Moscow. Istanbul came in second, followed by Bogota, Mexico City and Sao Paulo. London was sixth.