Time to build on the ‘road belt’

Needlessly wide roads should be torn up and replaced with boulevards of new housing, a think tank has said. Create Streets wants sweeping T-junctions tightened, vast roundabouts “tamed” and expressways narrowed, according to a paper to be circulated to ministers. Amid a worsening housing crisis that is increasing pressure to erect homes in the countryside, it said: “Forget green belt. This is Britain’s road belt and it’s time to build on it.” Early-stage design projects to test the approach are under way in Rochdale, Bedford and Southend-on-Sea. The think tank was founded by Nicholas Boys Smith, who leads the government’s new “building beautifully” agency, the Office for Place. The Guardian