Campaigners have written to the transport secretary asking him to rethink the current Road Investment Strategy (RIS 2).
In a letter to Grant Shapps, Transport Action Network (TAN) said that it was formally requesting that he re-open RIS 2 ‘in light of major changes both in government policy and wider circumstances’.
TAN director Chris Todd pointed out that paragraph 6.29 of National Highways’ licence makes states: ‘Major variations, which would affect the Licence holder’s overall funding, have a material effect on the integrity of the RIS or otherwise compromise the Licence holder’s ability to comply with the RIS, would require the RIS to be re-opened.’
Mr Todd argued that this condition was ‘obviously’ already met at last year’s Spending Review, when the capital enhancements budget in RIS 2 was reduced by £3bn, nearly a quarter.
He added: ‘Since then, the pausing of the smart motorways programme and further delays to decisions on other schemes mean further major variations in the RIS2 programme and spending.’
Mr Todd also highlighted the impact of the pandemic and the issue of safety, pointing out that National Highways is not on track to meet its KSI target, once the effect of the pandemic is disregarded’.
He wrote: ‘RIS 2 fails to prioritise safety on the most dangerous sections of the SRN, instead investing in smart motorways: highlighting National Highway’s failure to base road danger reduction on robust evidence.’
He cited a number of major changes to government policy that he said require re-opening RIS 2, including increased medium-term decarbonisation; changed transport policy; the Environment Act 2021; attempts by devolved nations to curb road building and the Levelling Up agenda.
Mr Todd wrote: ‘Pretending there is not uncertainty about RIS2 will not make it go away and makes it harder for companies in the sector to plan ahead. Indeed, a do-nothing approach offers the worst of both worlds: a construction sector unable to plan, while bus, coach and train operators shed jobs.’
