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ROADS IN URBAN AREAS. REPORT FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM --PIARC XVIII WORLD ROAD CONGRESS, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, SEPTEMBER 13-19, 1987

Since the last congress, government policy to control inflation has been effective, but reduced investment in public works has been part of that strategy. There has been an increased emphasis on improving roads of more than local importance which give value for money and which particularly alleviate adverse conditions created by heavy lorry traffic. New legislation introduced the deregulation of bus services and new tendering procedures. Under the transport act 1985 nationalised and municipally-owned bus operators were formed into companies and have been required to be competitive. The six metropolitan counties in England and greater London council were abolished in March 1986 and this has had a significant effect on the administration of urban highway authorities who were required to absorb the effects of transition. A review committee was set up and produced a full report on the relationship between highway authorities and public utility undertakers. This seeks to clarify accountability, financial arrangements, procedures and training and should help to clear the ambiguity of previous legislation. Road traffic has generally increased and forecasts suggest that, whilst commercial traffic would increase slightly and bus travel would not alter dramatically, private car traffic is expected to increase at a more rapid rate than in recent years. Energy conservation continues to be closely studied and the development of more efficient public lighting lamps has been given high priority. Problems associated with controlling movement to and from points of high traffic generation are increasing and techniques for optimising urban highway capacity are currently being examined. The cycle tracks act 1984 strengthened the government's policy to establish a framework of cycle tracks throughout the country. Most of these will follow the line of disused railway track and progress in urban and rural areas has been fairly dramatic. Continued concern about the environmental intrusion created by heavy lorries has led to the establishment of lorry route networks and the sponsoring of a series of lorry management projects set up in specific problem areas. Standards in certain aspects of highway design and traffic control have been established to improve mobility and safety for disabled people. Physical progress on various features such as crossings, signal control etc is evident throughout the country. Generally, the accuracy of accident reporting is being improved with particular reference to a process of matching-in reported accidents with hospital records. Since the last report, rapid advances have been made in the development of computer programs for at-grade junction designs and the adaptive traffic control system (SCOOT) is now successfully operating in UK and overseas. The use of microprocessor technology applied to urban road design and bus passenger communication has rapidly increased.

  • Corporate Authors:

    Permanent International Assoc of Road Congresses

    27 rue Guenegaud
    Paris,   France 
  • Authors:
    • McAlonan, W S
  • Publication Date: 0

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00481331
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: Apr 30 1989 12:00AM