********************* GREENPEACE FACT SHEET *********************

New Evidence: Road-Building Brings No Economic Benefits

UK, August 31, 1994 (GP) There is no link between road building and economic prosperity, according to new research published today by Greenpeace. This contradicts Government policy which -- for the last twenty five years -- has presumed that road building stimulates the economy.

The report -- entitled "Roads Aren't Working" -- is by Dr. John Whitelegg of environmental consultants Eco-Logica.

Dr. Whitelegg used official Government data to plot job opportunities against access to roads in 34 areas. He found that "there is no relationship between accessibility and economic performance".

The Government has justified road building by claiming that roads bring jobs and prosperity and aid development. It has never produced any of its own research to back this claim. If it was true, a beneficial "roads effect" would have been revealed by Dr. Whitelegg's research. The reverse was often the case.

For example, Doncaster -- less than twenty minutes from the M1 had only a fraction of the rise in job opportunity experienced by Grimsby, over seventy minutes away from the M1.

Skegness and Horncastle -- both more than 90 minutes away from the A1 -- both did better in terms of job opportunity than Newark-on-Trent, located on the A1.

Swansea and Port Talbot/Neath -- with almost identical proximity to the M4/M5 junction -- have experienced very different economic fortunes, with Port Talbot/Neath doing more than 70% better than Swansea.

"For 25 years the Government has got it wrong." said Charlie Kronick, Greenpeace Climate Change Campaigner. "This research shows categorically that the claim of economic benefit is simplistic, outdated and irrelevant. It can no longer be used to justify building new roads."

The House of Commons Estimate Committee highlighted the low rate of return on public road investment as long ago as 1969 and said "little is known about longer term development benefits". Despite this the Government is continuing with an 18 billion road programme without taking the trouble to investigate if there are real benefits.

Said Charlie Kronick, "The Government's been trying to heat up the economy by building roads. All it has managed to do is heat up the atmosphere. More roads mean more pollution and more climate change."

The Real Impact of Roads

The Government says roads "assist economic growth" (Trunk Roads, England into the 1990's, Dept. of Transport 1990). Yet, responding to a written question on July 14 1994, Robert Key, the then Roads Minister, revealed to Parliament that the Government had not carried out a single piece of research into the economic impact of road building in the previous ten years.

In his report Dr. Whitelegg reviews recent international studies.

There is ample evidence that:

Roads Don't:

  • Bring new business and jobs: "road infrastructure" is NOT important in creating new firms and jobs. (Ref: ECMT 1991, Whitelegg p 9.)

  • Save time and reduce congestion: instead of attracting businesses to move into an area roads simply encourages people to move around. This increases passenger traffic rather than reducing congestion for industry. (Ref: Plassard in ECMT 1991, Whitelegg p 11.)

    Roads Do:

  • Generate new traffic -- so negating the predicted economic advantages of reduced congestion (Ref: GLC Roads Generate Traffic [1985], Whitelegg p 14.)

  • Encourage centralisation of business -- local economies lose out (Ref: McKinnon and Woodburn 1993b, Whitelegg p 13.)

  • Tie up money that could have been better used to directly generate new business, and new jobs. Grants have more impact on local economies than roads. (Ref: Goodacre 1993, Whitelegg p 25.)

  • Encourage firms to relocate (Ref: McKinnon 1993). This can cause economic losses and often huge social problems. (Whitelegg pp 14-15.)

  • Risk draining resources from under-developed regions towards more developed regions (Ref: Blonk 1979, Whitelegg p 10.)

  • Put stress on urban transport systems -- dump large amounts of traffic on local roads which are unable to cope (Whitelegg p 16).

    For more information contact Sue Cooper - 071 354 5100.

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