The infrastructure and transport ministry has worked out a medium-term plan for road construction — a revision of a plan drafted in November 2007. The new plan is better because it makes more realistic projections of future public demand for additional and improved roads. The government should do its best to avoid wasteful investment and to use funds efficiently.
The November 2007 plan originally called for spending ¥65 trillion for building roads over a 10-year period. In view of the trend for economizing on public works, even the government ruling bloc criticized it. The amount was eventually reduced to ¥59 trillion, but the plan still faced strong criticism from the opposition bloc in the Diet because it was based on data from fiscal 2002, when demand for road construction was expected to keep rising.
The new plan covers five years from fiscal 2009 and states that such demand will gradually decrease. It does not carry price tags for road construction, since the use of road-related tax revenues has been freed up for other budget items.