Something 'better' change
A FRESH look at the Environment & Infrastructure Committee’s Better Transport proposals for the north of the island – sparked by pretty strong criticism from the Vale douzaine last week – is quite revealing.
The parish criticism carries a tone of despair. ‘The need for these changes could well be levelled at poor planning in the past with no overall view taken of the infrastructure needed to sustain such development,’ it said. True enough. However though it’s convenient to blame previous administrations, it’s not hugely productive.
So the Vale is critical on the emphasis placed on improvements for cyclists ‘to the detriment’ of the motorist.
And returning to the report’s highlights, we see it actually makes almost no reference to vehicle improvements. The focus is on ‘more options for getting around’ and although there is reference to ‘infrastructure improvements to make driving better’, there is a clear focus on enhancing walking, cycling and public transport options.
But 1,000 new homes in the north will require changes on the roads, and the States will be highly unlikely to be able to accommodate more than a thousand new cars easily in the current network.
But if something’s going to change, as a package rather than piecemeal, E&I will have to scrap very hard indeed to convince a sceptical public that those changes will work.