Further calls by motoring industry for a wider M6

PUT ALL FREIGHT ON THE RAILWAY LINES NOT ON THE ROADS! = ONE LOCO TO PULL 10 FREIGHT TRUCKS = LESS DIESAL USED.

NO MORE LORRIES PLEASE! BUY LOCAL WHERE YOU CAN. STOP THIS INFANTILE HAULAGE OF FOOD ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. STOP IMPORTING FLOWERS (AIR MILES!) MILK IS TAKEN FROM A FARM IN SOMERSET TO LONDON THEN TO A SUPERMARKET DISTRIBUTION THEN BACK TO A SOMERSET SUPERMARKET! HOW STUPID IS THAT? MORE ROADS = LESS GREEN FIELDS. WE ARE ONLY A SMALL ISLAND. STOP NOW. PLEASE! THIS COUNTRY IS OUT OF CONTROL= THEY WANT TO BUILD THOUSANDS OF HOMES (GHETOS) FOR MORE IMMIGRANTS. MORE ROADS. MORE AIRPORTS. STOP. STOP. PLEASE BEFOR ITS TOO LATE!

BEFORE DECIDING TO WIDEN ANY MOTORWAYS MAYBE INVESTMENT SHOULD BE MAID INTO TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO DRIVE PROPERLY ON THE THE MOTORWAY BY NOT HOGGING THE MIDDLE LANE FOR MILES UPPON END, THESE DRIVERS ARE THE CAUSE OF A LOT OF GRIDLOCK ON THE M6,
I TRAVEL THE M6 REGULAR AND SEE ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF CAR DRIVERS REFUSING TO MOVE OVER TO THE NEARSIDE LANE EVEN WHEN THAT LANE IS EMPTY, THIS IN TURN CAUSES OTHER DRIVERS TO QUE UP BEHIND THESE MORONS AS THEY CAN NOT OVER TAKE THEM, THIS VERTUALY REDUCES THE MOTORWAY TO 2 LANES CAUSING SLOWER DRIVERS TO PULL OUT IN TO THE OUTSIDE LANE MAKING FASTER TRAFFIC HAVING TO BRAKE HARD CAUSING PILE UPS OR THE WAVE EFFECT BECAUSE DRIVERS ARE TRAVELLING TO CLOSE TOGETHER.
IF WIDENING WORK WAS TO GO AHEAD I WOULD STRONGLEY RECOMMEND THAT HGV VEHICLES RESTRICTED TO 56MPH SHOULD ONLY BE ABLE TO USE 2 LANES OF A 4 LANE MOTORWAY. THIS SHOULD BE ADIQUATE FOR OVER -TAKING SLOWER LORRIES. THIS WOULD ALSO SPEED UP MOTORWAY JOURNEY TIMES AS FASTER TRAFFIC CAN FLOW FASTER PAST THESE SLOWER VEHICLES. MAYBE POEPLE SHOULD THINK OF A FEW SIMPLE IDEAS BEFORE DECIDING TO SPEND MILLIONS OF WASTED MONEY.

There have been many reports of late, signposting that we as a civilisation are heading for ecological catastrophe. These include the 2006 United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Report, the Stern Report and latterly, the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). All of these paint a disquieting, plausible portrait of an Earth inching toward the brink of abrupt catastrophic planetary collapse, and challenges us to transform our current parasitic relationship with the Earth that sustains us.

We must realise now that attaining a “reasonable lifestyle” cannot be accomplished with sledgehammer tactics of the past. In our blind struggle for the survival of the fittest, richest and most acquisitive, we seem to have forgotten many of the fundamentals necessary to support all life. It has long been assumed by neo-classical economic models that the sum of individual demands somehow equalled a broader social good, and commercial interests, designer politicians and errant economists continue to tout this view with renewed vigour.

All scientific evidence so far, supports that fact that our current “reasonable lifestyle” based on this neo-classical “consumption assumption”, could turn our big blue marble into just another cold dead rock - as described by physicist John E. Brandenburg and science writer Monica Rix Paxson in the book Dead Mars, Dying Earth.

On a more practical and immediate note, now that oil has broken the 100 Dollar a barrel mark, some oil strategists predict that the whole industrial culture will at some point start breaking down and that a world without oil, is not a world that can support 6 billion human beings. It is not a world that can support 3 billion. It may not even be a world that can support one billion, as transportation, power and other oil-dependent products and services will become much more expensive.

They envision a catastrophic end to the era of fossil-fuel exploitation, a radical collapse of the entire world industrial system within the 21st century, a collapse that, they say, actually began about the year 2000, will quicken in pace till about 2012, and then drop off a cliff in the run-up to about 2030, when the lights will have begun to go out permanently, and there will be, so to speak, a need to train “candle makers”, if wax can be found.

The maths is done. No amount of alternatives will replace the demands of the many rapacious, energy hungry economies that exist at present. Not coal, not gas, not nuclear, not solar, not fuel cells, not wind, not anything. The prospects for all of these options are well reviewed and found wanting. We are building our way in to the “Big Empty” and the undoing of this “Earth Rape”, inadvertently called “progress” will inevitably happen.

Then we will no longer consume more than nature can provide and waste more than nature can clear away. Widening roads such as the M6 to accommodate ever more destruction only hastens that day ever closer.

There really is no point widening any motorway or adding any other kind of road space without, at the same time, taking demand management measures to 'lock in' the benefits. We can see now, that for 40 years, additional road space always fills up within a fairly short time. In economists' speak there is 'infinitely elastic' demand for road space that is free at the time of use.

That's the point of road pricing - to shift some of the demand off peak - or to other modes.

An alternative mooted in the last ten days is to re-introduce the 1974 oil crisis 50 mph motorway and national speed limit [though unavoidable enforcement measures would now need to come with it]. It would cut the carbon footprint and especially discourage some long distance road commuting.

But one of the most intractable aspects of congestion is the short distance use of the motorways and other roads round our major cities - and short distance vehicle use within our towns and cities.

Cutting those unecessary half mile to one mile commercial vehicle movements, and similar short journeys to the office, shops and schools would reduce urban and motorway volumes by 20%, which would totally free up the system. Pricing would tackle this key problem quite effectively.

There is no point in widening the M6 or any other motorway. There won't be the sufficient supply of fuel necessary to run all those extra cars and lorries. Nor will there be enough money or energy to pay for all the extra goods they are carrying or to pay for the upkeep of the motorways themselves. There will be less and less traffic and a shrinking economy.

Global oil production is peaking more or less right now - it will very soon go into a permanent, relentless decline. There is no timely combination of alternatives that can replace the quantity or quality of energy we currently get from oil. Any further money spent on road or airport expansion at this stage is a complete waste of time, money and energy. Twenty years from now we will look on in horror at all the white elephants we have built and our stupid short-sightedness.

What's the point! the M6 was widened near me, and the idiots made it a Toll road with usual Rip-off Britain prices so now, hardly anyone uses it.

Having just been up and down the M6 between these jinctions, it was obvious that most of the severe conjestion was caused by vehicles being unable to enter service areas and having to join the queue stationary on the slow lane approach to the services. We need more service areas or improved access and parking on the service area especially at Keele and Knusford

I think Tom Taylor is somewhat wide of the mark when he says that motorways were simply constructed for the fast movement of freight. At that time there was an extensive rail network in place, subsequently dismantled by a Conservative government through the hands of the myopic Doctor Beeching rather than instigate a proper system for freight handling on the railways. From my perspective, and I travel quite often on the M6 and M1 motorways, it is unquestionably HGV's and not cars that are congesting these roads. Get more freight back on the rails!

Thirty-three years ago, whilst PR manager for a road transport equipment manufacturer, I was involved in the campaign "If you've got it a truck brought it." But today, the amount of heavy goods vehicles congesting our motorways and major trunk roads has now got way out of hand. It is now time for government legislation to prohibit certain loads on our motorways, etc., and decree they must be carried by rail for the greater part of their journey.

I use and have used the M6 almost weekly for the last few years and it is about time that the M6 was widened north of the M6 toll and certainly as far as the A556 at minimum. This stretch is constantly congested and I always wondered why the toll road was put where it was as it seems the stretch discussed above is actually where it was needed. However, as usual, we the motorist will doubtlessly have to pay for this from speeding fines, increase in excise duties, tax on petrol etc. People are happy to blame lorries but would be the first to complain if their local Tesco's ran dry of stocks. We are all motorists and we are all in this together. We are all now reaping the benefits of previous governments not correctly predicting future road usage, or indeed spending the right amount of money at the time, to develop tomorrow's infrastructure. Putting lorry frieght onto Railways would require serious investment to get the infrastructure upto standard and that's before anyone considers that the freight has to get from the train to it's destination; how would that happen without a lorry or van?

By the way, what rails are we going to put freight on? Oh I see! increase the fuel duty so that we can build railways for a future government to scrap!
No more to-day or next day delivery. 2 to 3 weeks by rail!

What aload of rubbish written by the Anti-Lorry Brigade. As a former HGV driver, disabled by years of jumping out of cabs & off loads of lorries. (there were no steps when I started) Remember that Motorways were originally built for the speedy movement of freight, now they are blocked up by car drivers, most of whom don't even know how to behave on Motorways, & everything you own has travelled by truck! Do the green Lobby have any idea the environmental damage that is being done by standing traffic? I am all for the extension, & as a Scots motorist, I would like to see a complete motorway in our country!

Congestion on the M6 is principally South of J10a and through Birmingham - caused in the main I suggest by short-distance commuting, not long-distance freight traffic. Widening the road to the North, through the Staffordshire and Cheshire countryside would not only be ineffective, but tantamount to vandalism. I do not hold the environmental credentials of the freight transport lobby in high regard.

put the freight back on the rails if want greener britain

When at my Daughters home I see Freight Trains with ONE Locomotive pulling MODERN freight trucks each one containing one or two lorry loads or more of freight I wonder why the Government does not encourage ALL LONG Distance freight on to rail.Switzerland is now FORCING through Freight traffic onto rail. It in conjunction with Italy is building tunnels capable of taking lorries through Switzerland on freight trains as per the Channel Tunnel with the lorry driver ignoring this option being heavily fined! Their Government has common sense!

At least it will be something worthwhile to spend all of that extra revenue gleened from the Motorist

"The FTA has argued that the widening of the M6 will allow for a cleaner, greener Britain."

What a load of rubbish. Just keep widening those roads, more lorries, bigger lorries.