Wales needs better roads, especially a North/South connection to motorway standard. A linear building supporting a road on its roof is apt for hilly country: the road stays level or suffers only gentle gradients, while the ground rises and falls beneath. Construction costs provide useful buildings, instead of being wasted on earth moving for embankments and cuttings.
The floor beneath a roof road would provide not only parking and goods servicing for the roof road buildings, but an easy conduit for services such as water and district heating mains, and perhaps a small automatic railway transporting coal and rubbish to combined heat and power stations along the roof road. The human activity along the road would support a bus service. Both the roof road buildings and adjacent communities would benefit from its services.
Roof road buildings are a good investment for the future, unlike conventional motorways. The heated buildings, probably with a simple steel frame, have an indefinite potential life, and when petroleum supplies become short, electric trams and battery electric vehicles can provide energy economical transport of people and goods.
Location within a roof road building would be attractive for both businesses and residences, with their countryside views and nearby first class road connection to North and South Wales and the national motorway network. This unique development could be very attractive to property interests. The road could thus be built with private capital, at no cost to the taxpayer.
David Stephens, Tir Gaia Solar Village, Rhayader, Powys LD6 5AG (tel 0597 810929).