If you turn to the Index in the Lib Dem Manifesto you can find rail, but there is no mention of roads. My read through the document confirmed that their Manifesto does not offer a roads policy. Clearly Lib Dems want to live in a world where we all go to work by train and to the shops by cycle so there is no need to mention cars, lorries and roads. The reality is more than 90% of our journeys are by road. Even a bike needs a road to travel on.
Road congestion is one of our biggest problems. Congestion means more fumes and worse fuel economy. Congestion means more frustrated drivers who then might make mistakes. Congestion means delay in getting goods to market, children to school and people to work. Congestion means more noise and dirt for those living near to congested roads.
We are not going to bust all our congestion in the Wokingham and West Berkshire area by encouraging more use of the train. The state has just spent a fortune on rail improvements at Reading and Wokingham, and there will be more trains available as a result. At the same time we do need more road capacity. We need smarter junctions, that are both safer and allow better flows of traffic. We need safer routes for pedestrians and cyclists as well. Where there is space we need to separate left and right turning traffic from straight on traffic, and separate pedestrians and cyclists from large lorries and buses.
The Conservative manifesto contains plans to improve our national highways network and expand its capacity. A Conservative government will also make money available to the Council to build the local roads and improved junctions we need so people can get to work and school in reasonable time.
Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU