It has been widely reported that our rivers are polluted, with not a single river in England in good overall health. What isn’t so well known is that a major source of this pollution comes from our roads – oil spills, particulate matter, and microplastics from tyre and brake wear. Every time it rains, this…| Transport Action Network
A credible plan to improve journeys? Draft RIS3 leaves many questions unanswered Transport Action Network (TAN) has welcomed the publication of the draft third road investment strategy (2026 – 2031) (draft RIS3) with a budget of £25bn. The draft outlines the government’s priorities for the Strategic Road Network (SRN). However, TAN questions whether it is…| Transport Action Network
National Highways misusing taxpayers’ money, says TAN in complaint to its regulator Transport Action Network (TAN) has written to the regulator of National Highways, the Office of Rail and Road, to ask it to investigate the government-owned company for misusing taxpayers’ money. National Highways has a ringfenced pot called Designated Funds which totalled £870m in…| Transport Action Network
TAN has discovered that National Highways is syphoning off money from a dedicated fund for environmental and safety improvements (called ‘Designated Funds’) to use it as sweeteners or greenwashing for new roadbuilding schemes. National Highways is also raiding the “ringfenced” funding to pay for mitigation that should come out of the scheme budgets. In one…| Transport Action Network
The UK Government announced it is establishing yet another new regulator and board to track 50 or so major infrastructure projects to ‘speed up’ planning. The Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) ‘smart’ motorway will be the first project to have a “Lead Environmental Regulator” under the new system. Transport Action Network Director Chris Todd asks: Is creating more bureaucracy really the way to speed up the planning system?| Transport Action Network
There was a flurry of publications just before Parliament broke up in July, three of which directly related to National Highways. These reports are quite revealing about what National Highways has and has not achieved. They also show what aspects of National Highways’ performance are not scrutinised, and raise questions (unintentionally) as to whether the…| Transport Action Network
When National Highways plans and delivers road schemes, it is meant to avoid harming nature and then minimise any impact, which it is then supposed to compensate for. This is called “mitigation” and is a legal requirement. In addition, new rules about Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) require developers to create more biodiversity than they destroy.…| Transport Action Network
Transport Action Network is dismayed at today’s announcement by the UK Government to fund a raft of poor value and expensive road schemes. Most of these are legacy schemes from the Conservative government which the Labour administration was expected to cancel.| Transport Action Network
Transport Action Network is dismayed that the government has announced funding for the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine road scheme in Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The mega-road project was last costed at £1.5bn in 2022, but the absence of any funding figures in the announcement suggests costs have risen further.| Transport Action Network
National Highways has been criticised by watchdogs for frequent increases in the cost of its major road schemes, which can occur both before and after construction starts. Schemes can end up costing taxpayers millions – sometimes billions – more than when they were approved, calling into question the reliability of the company’s processes for assessing…| Transport Action Network
Don't let the Lower Thames Crossing take your funding Take action now! WIN: Judges rules that 2023 active travel funding cuts were unlawful Read more Alternatives to the Lower Thames Crossing Find out more! The Great Train Robbery? May 27, 2025 Latest Blog Our Legal ChallengesFind out more... W| Transport Action Network
Lower Thames Crossing Facts Core cost - £12 billion (likely) The LTC would cost £9 billion according to National Highways' submission to the DCO examination [1], making the scheme more expensive per mile than the cancelled HS2 project. However this figure is likely to be a huge underestimate as| Transport Action Network
