Martin
Thank you for the two enlightening posts
Those who want to cut carbon emissions are constantly telling us to ditch our cars, not to use air transport and to use public transport, the trouble is our existing routes between most populated areas are full especially at times people wish to travel, the other issue is the cost of said travel
As for disruption to the environment, well planned road and rail schemes do actually help nature as they provide corridors from wild life area to other wild life areas, the easiest illustration is the growth of Red Kites along the M40 route and others
I lived along the LNWR line between London and the North West, It actually was widened 2 times with all the disruption these 3 sets of building work put on to the local residents, 150 years along this line benefits thousands a day, not one of the travelers casts a thought on the inconvenience these major works caused (long cuttings, long embankments and long viaducts). Once up and running it will be all history and nature will recover and perhaps thrive
Better road and or rail infrastructure actually reduces pollution. The negative effects of building disruption usually ends relatively soon and the benefits are soon realized by us and nature. If only we could have the A road through our village diverted around it, it would benefit both those who live in the village and those who wish to pass through it equally and more importantly greatly reduce the amount of carbon needlessly being put into the atmosphere by the current road layout.