A transport pressure group has slammed the government scheme to widen the infamous M25 motorway.
The Highways Agency announced the winning bidder for a contract worth £6.2 billion on Wednesday. The contract, set to see an extensive program of widening along London's famous orbital motorway yet, has been branded a huge 'waste' by transport charity, Campaign for Better Transport.
The M25 Design Build Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract for the future development, operation and maintenance of the M25 motorway was awarded to private sector consortium, Connect Plus. Under the contract the M25 will be widened to four lanes between Junctions 16 and 23 and between Junctions 27 and 30, and the Hatfield Tunnel on the A1(M) will be refurbished. Preparatory work on widening between Junctions 16 and 23 started on Thursday.
Transport Minister Andrew Adonis said: “The widening schemes, combined with the maintenance and operation of the M25 network for the next 30 years, will reduce congestion, improve journey time reliability and safety and bring benefits to road users.”
Up to 200,000 vehicles a day use the sections of the M25 that will be widened. The work is being phased to reduce the impact on road users and keep as many lanes open as possible. Work on both sections is due to be completed before the 2012 Olympics.
Responding to the news, Campaign for Better Transport's roads and climate campaigner, Richard George, said: "No sooner has the contract been awarded than the costs are already rising. Last year this was a £5 billion project to widen four sections; now the Government will get two sections widened for £6.2 billion.
"To make matters worse, the Government's own research shows that the no matter how much capacity you add, the M25 will just keep on filling up and congestion will just keep getting worse. This is a farcical waste of tax payers' money at a time when infrastructure budgets are being wiped out because of the credit crunch."
While environmentalists have raised concerns that widening the M25 will only encourage car dependency at a time when the Government says it intends to encourage motorists to use their cars less.
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