Any students of American history will be familiar with the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the lynchpin of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal to bring the US out of the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
One thing the WPA was good at was building roads. According to Indiana University during its eight year history, the WPA built 651,087 miles of highways, roads, and streets; and constructed, repaired, or improved 124,031 bridges.
Yesterday the government (the UK coalition one, not FDR's Democrat party) said it would commit to £28bn in capital spending on Britain’s road infrastructure between 2015 and 2020.
Chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said it was the biggest investment in Britain’s roads since the 1970’s.
The Highways Agency will also become a publicly owned corporation, not unlike the WPA itself.
It’s a move that has been welcomed by the FTA. James Hookham, MD of policy and communications, said it had been the FTA’s “desired approach for some time”.
Back to the road building and the FTA was equally as enthusiastic about the benefits some major government spending on infrastructure would bring the economy.
There is a fine line to be drawn in government between undergoing the kind of major hands-on government that could be labelled a “seedbed for communists” (as the WPA once famously was), and being the kind of laissez-faire government that allows businesses to get on with it in a free and open market.
Road building makes the most sense. It’s the kind of major construction project that government can spend its coffers on to the benefit of the wider economy – and the logistics and haulage industry predominantly.
It's unlikely that the 'new' HA will become a WPA (but why not? Aim high!)
The RHA once had a slogan that said: “Without trucks you get nothing” – well “Without roads you get nothing” works equally as well.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on how much of this £28bn is delivered.