Bryn666 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:14The French have got round this by introducing "Metropolitan Roads" which are a step between the nationally maintained N roads, and the departmental maintained D roads and Commune maintained C roads. Some of the most notable examples are the M6 and M7 in Lyon, which used to be nationally maintained motorways but are now under the control of Lyon.Piatkow wrote: ↑Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:08The trouble is that the TfL network is supposedly strategic for the conurbation as a whole. If you strip out the "nationally" important routes what do you do with the rest that are of regional importance. Maintain a smaller TfL road network or hand them over to parochial control by the boroughs?c2R wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:49
I disagree that al of TfL's network is strategic in nature - while I would count some of the additional high quality arterial routes as strategic, e.g. sections of the A2, A13, A40, and A1 - why should DfT be responsible for Upper Street in Isington, or the Victoria Embankment - these are locally important roads to London, granted, but are not of national importance.
I agree that there are regionally important routes which should be considered as such, and that the local authorities may be too small - expensive bridges between authorities such as Hammersmith Bridge are obviously an example of this, as are roads like the north circular; but also some of the main roads network as is, roads such as the A140. I also think that some were unnecessarily detrunked, so for example the A17.
I think therefore that these "main" roads should sit with sub-national regional bodies which still have regional accountability; I wouldn't particularly want to see a separate classification system like France has, but certainly preventing uncontrolled development and bad things like the A40 roundabouts to serve more car dependent development, and being able to provide an adequate funding level that isn't in competition with all the other things that a local authority has to provide would be a great benefit.