Home PageA24
Alliance
For Immediate Release 14 December 2004
Council Waste!
News
that Government funding for the county council plan to turn the A24 into a
superhighway has been slashed, is welcomed by the A24 Alliance.
A jubilant Peter Finch for the A24 Alliance said: "Santa has really given
long suffering residents along the A24 something to celebrate this Christmas.
Having had to put up with years of blight due to the prospect of an M24 on their
doorstep, residents would like to feel traffic reduction measures would now be
the way forward. Clearly as the Government are concerned about not meeting their
target for CO2 reduction, and the seriousness of predicted climate changes, they
may have at last realised that the dramatic rise in annual vehicle mileages and
the pollution it causes, must stop.
On top of that, road building, once thought to increase jobs, has only increased
commuting distances, resulting in a workforce to tired to function properly.
Coupled with a rise in drivers falling a sleep at the wheel due to
fatigue".
Finally commenting on the councils claim that the road scheme was necessary for
safety reasons, Peter Finch said: "Speed has been a major contributory
factor in many of the crashes. However since speed control measures have been in
force along the road there has been a dramatic reduction in crashes.
Driver education is the way forward to reduce death and injury on the road, not
spending million of tax payers money on a road that, if the truth were known,
was really designed to increase the speed and volume of traffic.
We now call on the councils to withdraw their plan for the A24 and remove the
blight suffered by residents and instead extend the speed management scheme, so
successful at Dial Post".
END
Notes for Editors.
The
A24 Alliance was formed in January 2003 by a number of residents who live in the
various villages and individual locations along the A24 from
Dorking to Worthing.