'A new toll motorway s the last thing the area needs'

Published in Evening Post on Wed 14th Jul 2004

Bristol Evening Post

Proposals for a pay-as-you-drive motorway south of Bristol have been branded "completely bonkers" by would-be Woodspring MP Mike Bell.

The constituency's prospective Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate has condemned the scheme put forward by Bristol-based property consultants Alder King.

The company has suggested a toll motorway linking the M4 east of the city to the M5 new Clevedon, passing close to Keynsham.

But Mr Bell, a North Somerset district and Weston-super-Mare town councillor, has dismissed the plan.

He said: "This is the kind of completely bonkers suggestion that comes along from time to time and doesn't deserve to be taken seriously.

"The fact is that every time a new road is built, the traffic increases to fill it.

"New motorways are never a solution to traffic congestion.

"Instead of spending hundreds of millions on new motorways, we would all be better off if public transport was improved to a decent standard.

"I live in the village of Kenn, just outside Clevedon, and having the M5 on our doorstep is bad enough.

"The very last thing that is needed is another motorway that will blight the lives of even more rural communities.

"This is one plan that should end up in the recycling bin."