The motorway age (1955–79) - Transport Policy and Planning in Great Britain - page 82

5.5 Traffic in Towns
The problem of traffic in towns that dogged so much of the second half of the 20th
century was not a prominent issue in the first half. Before the arrival of the motor
vehicle many urban authorities had already taken powers to impose 'improvement
lines' along main street frontages so that as redevelopment took place, buildings would
be set back to create wide streets of a consistent standard. New roads built as part of
the inter-war suburban expansion were typically constructed to much more generous
standards from the outset, often incorporating verges and lay-bys and in some cases
separate reservations for tram tracks. Traffic signals were introduced to resolve
conflicts at the most important junctions from 1934. Such congestion as occurred in
town centres was frequently attributed to 'through traffic' to which proposed bypasses
were expected to offer a complete solution.
Town planning in the 1950s and 60s was characterised by 'urban renewal'. This set
out to achieve the wholesale modernisation of town centres and inner residential areas,
often involving widespread demolition and social upheaval. Today such action seems
inconceivable but needs to be seen in the context of the destruction, delapidation and
disruption which had already afflicted these areas during and after war-time bombing.
The rebuilding programme provided engineers and town planners with the
opportunity to redesign individual streets and even the road layouts of whole districts.
A manual published in 1946 by the Ministry of Transport encouraged the adoption of
a hierarchical pattern of arterial and sub-arterial roads and the creation of residential
and shopping 'precincts' (MOT 1946). Unfortunately, given the opportunities that
were available, little progress was made. In cities such as Southampton, Sheffield and
Plymouth whole shopping streets were rebuilt along traditional lines. Road patterns
tended to follow geometric designs, with roundabouts at intersections which did not
maximise capacity. Many of the conflicts between moving and access traffic, bus stops,
pedestrians etc. remained. In Birmingham and Bradford new inner ring roads were
built to relieve traffic from the city centres yet on these roads frontage development
was still permitted.
By the end of the 1950s the Government's own programme of trunk road
improvements was under way, catering primarily for longer distance commercial
traffic. But in towns no programme of public highway investment preceded the rapid
expansion in private motoring. In the twenty years after 1955 the number of cars
owned increased from 3.6 to 13.4 million. The Government had not anticipated the
scale and pace of such change nor the wider implications of mass motorisation. The
result was that traffic and environmental conditions worsened rapidly, especially in
London.
After the Conservatives' election victory of 1959, Ernest Marples responded
to growing concern about urban traffic by taking two initiatives that were to have
far-reaching consequences. The first was a series of measures aimed at 'getting the
most out of existing streets'. The second was to commission a study on 'the long-
term development of roads and traffic in urban areas and their influence on the urban
environment'.
A specialist team - the London Traffic Management Unit - was established
to explore ways of controlling traffic and parking in the capital so as to improve
traffic circulation. The most important feature of the Unit's work was the idea of a
comprehensive traffic management scheme , utilising a range of individual measures
but applying them in a planned manner over a local area. Parking and loading