M25 'needs tolls to stop jams'

The M25 will need the equivalent of an entire extra lane on either side unless tough measures are brought in to curb traffic growth over the coming decade, it was claimed today.

The Government-commissioned Orbit Transport Study says traffic on the motorway will increase by a third by 2016 unless transport ministers grasp the nettle of Ken Livingstonestyle congestion charges.

To stop the road becoming England's biggest traffic jam, motorists in "single-occupancy cars" should pay special tolls to use the faster lanes.

Other proposals include electronically collected tolls for all users and the setting up of a "high quality" orbital coach network as part of a series of beefed-up public transport alternatives. It would connect key towns and transport hubs around the north and south of the outer ring road and provide a "fast, reliable alternative" for drivers.

Major rail infrastructures such as the CrossRail and Thameslink lines should be designed with links to the motorway in mind, it says, and a new Thames Crossing east of Dartford should be given greater consideration.

The study does not rule out further widening of the road in some spots but says that should only go ahead along with anti-congestion measures.

David Hardcastle, project director for transport consultants Halliburton KBR, which is part of the consortium carrying out the study, said: " Forecasts for 15 years ahead show the numberof cars in the South-East increasingby three million - a 33 per cent increase in traffic.

"The M25 does not have the capacity to accommodate anything like this scale of increase and there is little point in building more road capacity if it just fills up with additional traffic.

"To put some brake on this growth, at the same time as addressing congestion on the M25, a package of measures that combines new public transport alternatives with roadwidening and control of road use is needed. We believe that for any road-widening of the M25 to be sustainable it should be in conjunction with road-user charging."

The study's final recommendations will be submitted to regional planning bodies and the Mayor in the autumn. Views on its provisional findings have to be in by 31 July.

Motorists' groups gave it a guarded response today. Jonathan Simpson, of the RAC Foundation, said: "We doubt whether road-pricing will work on the M25. Certainly a great deal of work will have to be done on the rail networks and other public transport infrastructure if motorists are to be convinced this is viable. There is also the question of whether it would simply displace motorway traffic onto smaller roads around the M25."

? Evening Standard readers can give their views on www.orbitproject.com