The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has responded to the publication of the Department for Transport’s Initial Report on its second Roads Investment Strategy (RIS 2). The FTA called for “urgent confirmation” on the government’s priorities.
The FTA said that the report “does not contain sufficient information for operators who need to implement business planning and future investment programmes”.
FTA Head of Road Network Management Policy, Malcolm Bingham, commented: “Although the Road Investment Strategy will set out spending priorities for 2020 onwards, it’s vital to get the approach right at this stage. FTA members want to see more detail included now, to ensure key improvements are not overlooked or removed during the process of decision making. We appreciate the government has commissioned strategic studies investigating some of the biggest challenges facing our road network, but those key investment priorities must be pinned-down to give industry the time to prepare for major infrastructure projects. It’s not enough to say roads will be improved – we need to know which ones, and when!”
The Department for Transport opened its consultation period this week, and this is to run until the 7th February. The government will use the results of the consultation to help develop the next RIS that is expected to be published in 2019.
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