Darren Johnson, Green Party Member of the London Assembly, has reacted to an announcement by the Mayor of London that he intends to bury stretches of some of London’s busiest roads in underground tunnels.
On the day that the Mayor visited Boston’s “big dig” scheme – a road tunnel project whose cost escalated from $2.8bn to $22bn, making it America's most expensive new road - Boris Johnson said work could begin at five sites across London:
the A4 in Hammersmith
the A13 in Barking Riverside
the A3 in Tolworth
the A316 at Chalkers Corner
the A406 in New Southgate.
The Mayor claimed tolls could be used to help pay for the work.
Darren Johnson commented:
“Sticking traffic in underground tunnels is counter-productive. It will do nothing to get cars off the roads. If these plans go ahead, we will waste the money that we need to be spending on encouraging public transport, cycling and walking. If we want a city which is cleaner and runs efficiently, then we need to cancel these damaging tunnel plans.”
“The more space you create for cars, the more cars you get. Building new roads will guarantee that we have more traffic, congestion and pollution. After more than a decade of successfully reducing traffic, this Mayor is putting London into reverse.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Darren Johnson AM is available for further comment
Darren published a report examining Mayor Boris Johnson’s road-building plans in detail in November 2014: http://bit.ly/191XLoB
The Mayor of London’s press release from today can be read here: /media/mayor-press-releases/2015/02/mayor-s-plans-for-london-s-road-network-step-up-a-gear-as-he