The M 25 saved our economy. This hugely important road investment is crucial not just to the economy of London and South east but to the whole country, as traffic pours round London from and to the channel ports and other destinations from many places. My plans over the last week to speak twice in…
The M 25 saved our economy. This hugely important road investment is crucial not just to the economy of London and South east but to the whole country, as traffic pours round London from and to the channel ports and other destinations from many places. My plans over the last week to speak twice in the Tonbridge area relied heavily on the M 25 working.
My journey to the Wednesday dinner started badly and got worse. Slow traffic on the M 25 meant I was behind schedule when I hit junction 9 and a warning that it would take at least 30 minutes to get from junction 9 to junction 8. I had allowed myself an extra hour for congestion. I turned off the motorway and began a complex journey on back roads which absorbed all the extra time I had allowed that had survived the first part of the M 25 slow torture.
My journey the next night to east of Tonbridge also started badly and got worse. I persevered through slow traffic to junction 6 needing to get to junction 5 to turn off onto a good trunk road. I saw then a complete standstill with delays advertised, and again made my way by back routes to get there on time. I had this time allowed 3 hours and ended up using 2 hours 40 minutes, one hour longer than the estimated time for a free flowing M 25.
All this made the car journey almost as worrying as the train journey had been. The car was , however, the better option as on both occasions despite big delays it was still quicker than the train option and it did not have the added hassle of trying to track down the taxis .It was cheaper.
None of this is acceptable or necessary. In those same queues as me wishing to keep a promise to appear and speak on time would be doctors trying to get to hospitals and patients, urgent deliveries for people and business, people going to important meetings for the government or their companies, families wanting an enjoyable day not spent in a traffic jam. Government failure to build enough good roads damages our economy and makes our lives more difficult.
It also means burning a lot more fuel and generating a lot more carbon dioxide. My outbound journey was at 48 miles per gallon and my return journey freed of delays was at 66 miles per gallon, a 37% improvement. If you are running a logistics company fuel cost is a crucial part of your business costs. Time is also important, so spending twice as long on the M 25 thanks to congestion makes goods dearer and damages efficiency. The over used M 25 capacity is crucial to our transport system. In comparison our great railway routes straight into the heart of our cities are little used with huge gaps between trains.
