Is Building New Roads the Solution to Traffic Congestion in the UK - Assignment Example

Argumentative Research Paper Is building new roads the solution to traffic congestion in the UK? October 01, 2008 Outline I. Introduction II. Counterargument a) Road safety b) Improving local communities c) Reducing pollution d) Economic Development e) Building new roads is very important for the deduction of the journey time. III. Refutation a) Road Safety b) Solution to traffic congestion c) Avoiding Congestion d) Avoiding Pollution V. Conclusion a) Analytical summary b) Concluding statement Introduction Transportation is one of the main things in a big country and this is why all the governments always try to improve the road infrastructure of the country. The smoothness of life depends a lot on how the roads are able to tackle the huge transportation that any of the major cities has to handle. In the following article our attention will be to prove that building new roads in a country is sometimes impossible. It will also prove that maintenance and development of the existing roads in the country is a far better option. Counter argument Building new roads and widen existing ones. This is the most common argument, which is made about the roads of any major country. Even the political leaders promise to develop the country lifestyle by building new roads whereas developing the existing roads can also matter as far as the progress of the country is concerned. Road safety Highly congested roads have very poor safety records. UK being one of the oldest countries in the whole world has many roads, which are very old and unplanned. These roads are not perfect for the people to travel through them. Congestion is the main thing, which appears to be highly dangerous for the travellers. Number of accidents is very high on these parts of the country. This is the reason why the government talks about making newer roads. This is important so that they can divert the excessive traffic to the other ways. (Ascorbic, 2005) Motorways are our safest roads, yet the government is afraid to build them, as they will allow vehicles to run at high speed. We can take look at the ancient times when the Romans used to build new roads while they planned for a new country. (Icknield Way Association, 2004) Their roads were straight and many of these roads smoothed their lifestyle a lot. But here the differences between the Roman ancient roads and the existing roads in UK can be seen. In this country people travel through roads, which are not scientifically planned, and therefore risks of accidents are higher with them. Roman highways in many senses resemble the motorways of the modern infrastructure. So there is an argument in which building motorways are thought to be one of the best-known solutions for a country like UK. (Hume, 2007; Hogarty, 1999) Improving local communities. Building up new roads can bring development to the local communities and this work can be done with the help of bypasses and flyovers. Building up new roads also opens up the newer opportunities for corporations and smaller business houses as goods transportation becomes easier than before. It is also like a death for the locality if all the vehicles stop there for long hours. Both the passengers as well as the residents of the locality will be bored of wasting so much of time. The following are the points explaining how the new build roads can bring positive changes to a country. Building bypasses alleviates hard-pressed communities. A bypass diverts the traffic flow of the country in a suitable way so that all the vehicles are able to reach their destinations. This gives a great solution to the problem of road congestion. Waiting in a line at a congested road is never a solution for any country. A bypass helps a large number of cars to take a different road or short cut to another road, which ultimately clears up the congestion, which hampers the country life. (Open Road, n.d) Now space is a big problem for any of the developed cities as they are already a great lot congested. So building of bypass will need more space and for this work the government has to demolish some of the existing constructions. So if this can be done with so much of effort, why can’t the existing roads improved by doing the same thing? As a matter of fact the latter task will demand less effort and investment to carry it out. This is also an ideal option for the government to save land and nature, which they would have to take for building completely new roads. Reducing pollution. Pollution is one of the biggest threats to any developed country. So whenever something new is done there, pollution becomes a main concern for the engineers and scientists. There are both positive and negative sides, which are arisen by building up new roads. Some of them think that building roads may bring down the pollution level and on the other hand some of them think just the opposite. It is a well-established fact that vehicles that are moving cause less pollution. This is why the first thing, which should be taken care of in, a country is the fact that congestion should not set in. It is very polluting when a standing vehicle emits poisonous gases in the air in the same locality for a long time. It is always better that the vehicle emits the same amount of air in different areas. This can only happen when the government builds new roads and puts and end to the congestion problem. Continuous passing of vehicles is the thing which every country needs and this has the potential to solve the pollution issue to a great extent. Economic development. An efficient transport system is essential for a prosperous economy. Economists have to say many things about the transportation system of a developed country. The roads of the country are the ways of commerce to them and this is why smoothness in the supply of goods is the fact on which they concentrate. To state in the terms of economics, one has to mention the public finances. Roads are undoubtedly associated with the idea of public finances as they are the paths through which public goods are dealt with. If some business goods can be reached to their destinations in the short span of time it helps to bring down the costing charge of different productions. In this way roads are very helpful for the economic growth of the country. There are numerous examples where it is seen that blockage of roads have increased things’ prices and this is why building new roads is a good solution to stop inflation. (Bryant, 2001) Building new roads is very important for the deduction of the journey time. Businesses lose significant amount productivity due to employees being stuck in traffic jams. They come late to their workplaces and a great deal of valuable time is wasted. This is not a very rare scene in UK or any other old cities like it. The economists have successfully proved the fact that Gross Domestic Product depends upon the transportation system up to the level of 3% to 5%. This measurement is even higher than the estimation, which was done by the World Bank. There are some of the major industries whose products and their prices are completely dependent on the smoothness of the transportation system, especially the roads. Among these industries the mentionable ones are petrol industry, road maintenance, car manufacturing, and public services as well. (European Union Road Federation, 2001) Refutation The arguments, which have been made above, are well established but there many drawbacks in what they conjure up. It is never easy to build completely new roads in an old country. UK is an old country and now to build new roads inside it will claim for many newer plans, which are in most of the cases impossible. Moreover, it is never always true that building new roads is the ultimate solution for the overall development of a country. There are many things to do other than that and the government have to think about the options. Building new roads is never a problem for a new country where chances for new plans are always open. But for a country like UK, there will be many requirements, which are almost impossible for the government to meet. The English government is also against the plan of building motorways only because of this reason. Building these ways will claim for huge land stretches and as a consequence engineers will have to cut down a huge number of trees and demolish many of the old constructions which are part of the country heritage. So, it is never a good idea to devastate nature in order to save the country from pollution. On the other hand, building up new roads is a long time project, which is for the far future. It cannot be an option for the engineers to bring a quick solution to the present problem. (Adrianson, 2002) Argument- Road Safety: Something has to be done regarding the existing roads. The roads, which exist in UK country, are narrow and they do not a great number of cars together. So, before something is done about the new roads, widening the existing roads can be a good solution maker. It is a challenging job of course but still is not impossible. The point, which is raised from the English government, cannot be denied too. Number of rash drivers in UK is very high and there are often cases of accidents because drunkenness or other illegal things. This is why opening motorways will be allowing them to enjoy more freedom and as a consequence rate of accidents can even go up. Solution to traffic congestion: Building new roads is not the only way out as far solving the traffic is concerned. The existing roads can easily be widened and this is a better option than the former one. The government will need to take lands and other constructions in order to build new roads but the same thing can be done for the betterment of the roads that already exist in the country. Some of the roads in UK can be compared to the Roman roads about whom we read in the history books. Among these roads the names of Ermine Street and Watling Street are mentionable. (Icknield Way Association, 2004) It is always better for the existing infrastructure to improve than to opt for new roads. The betterment projects on these roads will not need a lot of lands and properties and this why so further complicacies will take place regarding this matter. It will also be right from a legal point of view. The betterment of the existing roads will also help in the way of commercial progress, as these roads are well known by the established business dealers. UK’s map is well practiced and experienced by the people who deal with this country on a regular basis and on the other hand, newer roads will remake the map and people will have to be habituated with them from the beginning. Now these matters will surely produce complicacies and stepping forward for the development of the already existing infrastructure will surely be the wiser idea. Avoiding accidents: Stagecoach service is one of the main transportations to the country. Some of the roads in UK are not good for the stagecoach services and before investing in building the new roads the government must concentrate on improving the highways and roadways, which are already there. The Turnpike companies in England are known for their skill for repairing roads throughout the country and this is why they can be easily employed in order to avoid accidents and other problems regarding the roads. (Highways Agency, n.d.) Avoiding Pollution Problems: Natural open spaces are necessary to save the country from the hands of pollution and this is why no one should misuse the natural wealth of the country in order to improve its transportation system. Broadening the roads and controlling the number of vehicles are the best known processes, which can be applied without hampering the natural wealth of UK. Solving the other problems, widening and maintaining the existing roads’ condition will also help people to get rid of many diseases, which are actually the outcomes of pollution. Frustration and anger are also two of the commonly seen characteristics among the travellers and these aspects also harm their health condition. This is an added worry besides the pollution issue. The government should also try to control the number of vehicles plying on the roads. Traffic rules and pollution check up of the vehicles should be more strictly maintained. (Marshalls Heath Natural Reserve. 2003) Conclusion Analytical summary This argumentative essay deals with the topic of whether it is right to build new roads to avoid traffic congestion in UK. According to the counter argument it is the best way to build new roads for the country, as there are different opportunities, which are opened by these projects. It is good for both making the country free from traffic congestion as well as helping the place to experience a commercial development. The argument says that it is almost impossible go for the new roads as there will be many complicacies for the country in these tasks. It is always better to go for the development of the already existing roads which are serving the country since its beginning. Widening of the roads and highways and maintaining them on a regular basis are the steps, which can easily solve all the problems through which UK is going now. (Writefix, n.d) Concluding statement Maintenance and betterment of the already existing roads in UK is the best process to free the country from the troubles of traffic congestion. Building new roads can never be an option for an old country like UK. This may harm the country life from different aspects. Too much of anything is bad not only for a human being but also for a country. Too many roads will never free the country from traffic congestion. References 1. Ascorbic, 2005. Road Congestion. Available from: http://everything2.com/e2node/Road%2520congestion [Accessed: September 24, 2008]. 2. Adrianson, A. 2002, CAR WARS: WHY CONGESTION DOESNT GET FIXED. Consumers Research Magazine [online],85(5), May 2002. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6774801&site=ehost-live [Accessed: September 24, 2008]. 3. Bryant, B. 2001, Traffic Congestion Is Putting the Brakes on Economic Growth. Public Roads [online], 65(2), Sep/Oct2001. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=5861200&site=ehost-live [Accessed: September 24, 2008]. 4. European Union Road Federation, 2001. Benefits of Roads to Society. Available from: http://www.irfnet.eu/en/position-papers/archives/mar-2001-seb/ [Accessed: September 23, 2008]. 5. Highways Agency, n.d. A brief History of our Roads. Available from: http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/1813.aspx [Accessed: September 23, 2008]. 6. Hogarty, T.F. 1999, The Untold Benefits Of Roads and Travel. Consumers Research Magazine [online], 82(7), July 99. Available from: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55426680.html [Accessed: September 24, 2008]. 7. Hume, M. 2007, Of course we need more roads. It’s a no-brainer. Times Online [online], 20 Feb 2007. Available from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/mick_hume/article1409364.ece [Accessed: September 23, 2008]. 8. Icknield Way Association, 2004, Icknield Way Path. Available from: http://www.icknieldwaypath.co.uk/ [Accessed: September 24, 2008]. 9. Marshalls Heath Natural Reserve. 2003, Marshalls Heath Natural Reserve - History. Available from: http://www.wheathampstead.net/mh/history.htm [Accessed: September 24, 2008]. 10. Open Road, n.d, Why Build Roads. Available from: http://www.open-road.org.uk/why.html [Accessed: September 23, 2008]. 11. Writefix (n.d), Traffic Congestion. Available from: www.writefix.com/writing/cause/traffic.ppt [Accessed: September 23, 2008]. Read More