The end of the road? Challenging the road-building consensus

This CPRE report reveals that road-building is failing to provide the congestion relief and economic boost promised while devastating the environment. It directly challenges government claims that ‘the economic gains from road investment are beyond doubt’; that road-building will lead to ‘mile a minute’ journeys; and that the impact on the environment will be limited ‘as far as possible’. The report shows how road building over the past two decades has repeatedly failed to live up to similar aims.

The report is based on a study commissioned by CPRE and carried out by consultants Transport for Quality of Life (TfQL), which examined 86 official studies of completed road schemes. The TfQL research is available here.