Representation by Lisa Ridley
- Date submitted
- 30 June 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the proposed scheme at Simister Island Interchange. It is one of the busiest motorway junctions in the north-west, and is already within Noise Important Areas (NIA) and Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA). Rather than increasing capacity, National Highways should be seeking to reduce demand. Instead of dealing with the severe air and noise pollution already faced by local people, this scheme would make things worse for many local residents. St Margaret's C of E Primary School is only 200m from the M62, while Parrenthorn High School is only 300m away (and a similar distance from the M60) so both will be negatively impacted by this scheme. National Highways have only ever proposed or examined variations of a road building proposal, never non-roadbuilding alternatives to reduce demand or its impact. Construction will take place at night over a three and half year period, causing unacceptable noise and disturbance to local residents. Night time motorway closures will transfer traffic onto the local road network, increasing noise and disturbance for local residents. There will be an increase in noise at Kenilworth Avenue, Warwick Close, Warwick Avenue and Peveril Close to the south, Balmoral Avenue, Kensington Street, Glendevon and Conisborough Place, Duddon Close and Derwent Avenue, to the north, and closer to Junction 18 at Brathay Close, Rothay Close, Marston Close and parts of Parrenthorn Road and Corday Lane. The scheme would lead to an increase in fatal, serious and slight casualties. With or without the scheme, air pollution levels will still be unacceptably high and above safe limits and in some places will be made worse. National Highways should be examining solutions that will decrease the unacceptable level of noise and air pollution caused by the existing road. There are no significant benefits to the scheme, only small time savings. This results in the scheme being low value for money with a Benefit to Cost Ratio of just 1.17. The scheme barely pays its way, with every £1 spent on the scheme, taxpayers only see £1.17 of benefits. This situation could easily change with any cost overruns. 68 hectares of land surrounding Junction 18 is in the Green Belt. Carbon emissions would be increased by 62,013 tonnes during construction, and 151,090 tonnes over 60 years due to the increased traffic. This makes it even harder for the UK to reach its legally binding climate targets when it is already struggling to do so.