| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Reply | |
| Posted by: | Tom Pike | |
| Date/Time: | 03/01/23 12:53:00 |
| "At this stage I don't think it is possible to identify solutions because we don't really know the nature of the problem. If there is no significant health impact at these hotspots then the congestion is something that we, literally, can live with. If not, a rethink may be needed." Jeremy, we know rather more about the effects of pollution that you are suggesting. In particular there is no recognised threshold level for health damage. The legal limits are there to enforce action where the risks are most significant, but keeping below those limits does not mean that health impacts are insignificant. In fact as many more people suffer pollution at lower levels that the legal limits the aggregate costs of ill health are much greater. We also know quite enough to be confident that traffic needs to be fall to reduce the health costs of pollution, and that requires a combination of restrictions on driving and improvement of the alternatives. It's certainly very difficult to see how increasing road capacity per se can be part of any solution. |