Better Transport

Let's play Transport Trumps in Yorkshire and The Humber.

Problem 1: The A64 is filling up with traffic
A64 dualling Road solution: Local politicians want to spend £535 million to add another lane to 26 miles of the A64 between York and Scarborough. That's £20 million a mile! The route would pass through the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the west of Malton, and harm a Site of Interest to Nature Conservation at Gillylees and the River Derwent Site of Special Scientific Interest. The road would run through a registered park and adjacent to numerous listed buildings.	Integrated rail & bus services Reader's suggestion: Ben Hughes thinks better rail and bus services, and better integration between the two, would help to reduce traffic and eliminate the need for a new road. He thinks the York-Scarborough rail service should be increased to half-hourly and the Yorkshire Coastliner bus frequency increased to every 15 minutes. He thinks people should be able to use integrated bus-train tickets, to ease their journey. In the longer term, he’d like to see the Malton to Pickering railway reopened (and has set up an online petition). He estimates his public transport improvements, including new buses and trains, would cost £10 million. His proposals would reduce car traffic and improve air quality. Contact us if you can trump this solution
**Result: Public transport solution trumps road solution!**

Problem 2: There’s a lot of traffic on the A57/A628
Mottram Tintwistle Bypass Road solution: The Highways Agency wants to spend £184 million to build a bypass around the villages of Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth and a 5.6-kilometre road linking the M67 to the A628 Woodhead Pass. The last 1.2 kilometres of the proposed bypass would run within the Peak District National Park and decimate a quarry site used by climbers, walkers and locals. A local nature reserve, Swallow's Wood, would be damaged by a 65-foot bridge and earth work, carrying three lanes of traffic over what was once a beautiful, quiet wildlife site. The scheme would increase traffic on many local roads, including the A628 through the National Park, where traffic levels would increase by 40%. The Highways Agency says the road would add 19,000 tonnes a year of CO2.	Rail reopening Rail solution: Local people want to tackle the area’s traffic problems by taking freight traffic off the roads and promoting public transport. They want: Woodhead rail tunnel to be reopened; weight limits to be put on the A57/628 in order to force heavy goods traffic on to the M1/M62 motorway network and away from the Peak District National Park; traffic calming in the villages on the A628 and A57 to prevent rat-running; safe routes to school; travel-to-work plans; integrated bus and train services throughout the Peak District and improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists; and a new railway station at Gamesely and improved services at existing stations. Their proposals would reduce traffic and the associated problems of noise and air pollution. Contact us if you can trump this solution
**Result: Rail solution trumps road solution!**

Do you know of other proposed road schemes in Yorkshire and The Humber that could be trumped? If so, we want to hear about them!

In the real world of Transport Trumps, transport schemes are assessed through a cost-benefit analysis. We think the analysis is flawed because roads always come out as Top Trumps.

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