Chapter III – Practical studies

Conclusions

173

Although we had to work with the minimum of information, and although we might have explored an endless sequence of variations, we think the general lesson is plain enough that it is possible in a town of about 37,000 people, serving a hinterland population of about the same number, to provide for virtually all the use of vehicles that people are likely to want, but it will require drastic and expensive measures on a scale hitherto unexpected for a town of this size. The capital cost of the fully developed new network (the primary distributors only) would be of the order of £4½ million. If it is objected that the cost is altogether too fantastic to contemplate—and when multiplied out for other similar towns the total is a vast figure then it can only be replied that the increase in the number of vehicles is by no means fantastic, it is reasonably certain to come about in a town of the type of Newbury with its dependent rural population, so the choice will be either to match the investment in vehicles with an equivalent investment in works, or to invest less in works and curtail the usage of vehicles. It is questionable whether anything will curtail the acquisition of the vehicles by the public. The great danger for the future would seem to lie in the temptation to seek a middle course by trying to cope with a steadily increasing volume of traffic by means of minor alterations, resulting in the end in the worst of both worlds—poor traffic access and a grievously eroded environment. This case illustrates the ‘law’ which we propounded in Chapter II, that, given a determination to observe a certain worthwhile standard of environment, the amount of traffic that can be admitted depends upon the money that can be invested in physical alterations.

174

Another important conclusion is that as the use of private cars builds up, public transport by bus is likely to become increasingly uneconomical. Yet without bus services, or some equivalent, many people (the elderly, the young and the disabled, for example) would be immobilised.

175

Finally there is the question whether it would be better to build the outer by-passes first, accepting the temporary relief they would bring, and postponing the more radical alterations to the town itself until the pressure of traffic built up again, or to proceed at once with the new primary network. We think that the most economical course, and probably the best course for Newbury as a town, would be to build the new primary network first, and to allow the through traffic to use it for a period of years until the by-passes became necessary. It would be the best course for Newbury because it would immediately give the town a sound framework on which to start building its future, and the environment would be secure.