The Con Dem government has just announced a plan to "incentivise" utilities to dig up roads outside rush hour. I must say this strikes me as more of a gimmick than a policy. The review of the pilot scheme from 2002 to 2004 suggested it would have little effect, and Stephen Hammond hasn't explained why that review is wrong. Any substantial roadworks are likely to take a number of days. If instead of that work being continuous, the workmen have to stop and start all the time, it seems likely that the works will be protracted rather than speeded up. Think of all the weekends where the Tube is closed down on this or that line.
Surely, to limit congestion you really need a set of policies based around sustainable transport. Perhaps ministers should concentrate on that rather than their ridiculous "war on the motorist rhetoric.
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