An historic turning point in Wales, and perhaps more widely, has been signalled by the Wales Roads Review which has been taking place over the past year.  The Review has been examining road schemes under development and preparing recommendations for the future of road investment given the need for substantial change in response to the climate emergency.

What could this mean for the highways sector?

Roads used by motorised transport have been seen as the life blood of a prosperous society. Transport appraisal, born of the motor age, has often arrived at road capacity enhancement as the solution to congestion or to new developments requiring connectivity. Worldwide experience has shown that providing more road capacity has generated more traffic. This runs counter to the need for rapid decarbonisation and in turn the Welsh Government’s target for a 10% reduction in car distance travelled per person in Wales by 2030. This is why the case for building new road schemes has been brought into question.

The digital age has collided and merged with the motor age. We have the world at our fingertips and economic prosperity no longer seems as dependent upon road traffic. Covid-19 demonstrated the ability of people to adapt their behaviours, on an unprecedented scale. The dramatic increase in working from home is a prime example. Accordingly, the Welsh Government has set a target for 30% of people to be regularly working remotely. Roads remain an important asset but connectivity requirements can and must now be supported in ways beyond only dependence on car travel. 

In a sector that has, for professional lifetimes, considered road transport problems and used appraisal (including road traffic forecasts) to determine the case for new road schemes to address such problems, instincts can be strong.  Change away from this may seem painful – for some professionals and for some in affected communities. Turning the tide of connectivity patterns locally and nationally is hard and may take time. It may be very tempting to argue for case-by-case concessions on the basis of hardly affecting the bigger picture nationally and globally. Yet this would be misguided.

Change has to start somewhere

It is said that if a problem is presented to different professions, different solutions will be advocated. In practice, the best prospect may well come from the professions working together, both to understand the problem and to ensure an appropriate array of solution options are brought forward. A highway infrastructure solution to a highway traffic problem is not always the answer. This is not about turning our backs on the important part to be played by improving the road network in Wales but about understanding that it is part of the solution, not the only solution.

Don’t miss Glenn Lyons’ fuller-length article ‘Seeing the Road Ahead’ in the January 2023 issue of Transportation Professional magazine distributed exclusively to CIHT members. Interested in becoming a CIHT member?

Glenn Lyons, Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at the University of the West of England