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Better Road Infrastructure and Lower Lorry Emissions on the Agenda
EUROPE – A new deal agreed this week to extend minimum standards for road infrastructure now awaits official approval from both the European Parliament and Member States. The move comes at the same time the European Commission is turning its attention to truck emissions and the safety of vulnerable road users, all things which in their own ways will have major impacts on the road haulage industry.
The provisional deal on new infrastructure legislation will transfer the current rules applicable to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), the major arterial roads throughout the Community, to lesser highways. Currently existing EU rules only require governments to carry out regular road safety audits, identify high-risk sites and prioritise safety when building new major roads.
The revised version of the rules agreed would extend these measures to all motorways, all ‘primary roads’ and all non-urban roads that receive EU funding. The move was welcomed by such as the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), although it, and other such organisations, had been lobbying for all main urban and rural roads to be covered. However EU policymakers representing the European Commission, Parliament and Member States did not agree to extend the mandatory rules that far, though countries will still be able to go further if they wish.
According to research for the European Commission, the proposed measures could save 3,200 lives and prevent more than 20,000 serious injuries over the period 2020-2030. Road authorities will be able to choose some low-risk roads, or roads with little traffic to opt-out of the legislation. However, those decisions will be subject to oversight from the European Commission, who will also publish a map of roads covered by the rules. Ellen Townsend, Policy Director of the European Transport Safety Council said:
“This legislation contains the introduction of new procedures that will lead to better road design, better safety management, and more high risk sites being treated. Ultimately we would like to see this approach applied to every road in the EU, but this deal is nevertheless an important step forward.” Read more
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