A billion a year spent on anti car schemes

I've already written for the Daily Mail about the Institute of Economic Affairs paper Sharper Axes, Lower Taxes which proposes cutting state spending from 40% to 30% of GDP by the time of the next election with a programme of an extra £215 billion spending cuts.

The following is their proposal to save an estimated £1 billion by desisting from funding the "traffic calming" measures of local councils.

Liberalising state-owned local roads

Local government spending on roads also includes £2.5 billion per annum of capital expenditure (DfT, 2010a), although this is likely to fall significantly by 2014/15. Since the mid-1990s, various traffic control measures rather than road improvements have come to dominate council projects. These include ‘traffic-calming’ schemes such as constructing road humps and chicanes; narrowing roads and widening pavements; increasing the number of traffic lights; installing bus and cycle lanes, etc.

Humps: Boris says No.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has written to the Boroughs urging them to look for alternatives to road humps. Previously Transport for London has been zealous in demanding more and more humps despite the evidence from Barnet that dehumping has actually reduced accidents.

London Assembly member Brian Coleman has led the battle against humps and is naturally jubilant. He says:

“We have now won the argument. Even Transport for London, the previous bastion of all that was wrong in highways management, has recognised that humps have to go.

“I am delighted that the Mayor shares my view and is directing all of London to adopt the wise approach which I pioneered in Barnet in the teeth of lazy, right-on thinking that failed Londoners in the delivery of safer highways.”