§ 32. Dr. Broughtonasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress he has to report towards deciding the route of the London-Yorkshire motor road.
§ 55. Mr. Wadeasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what road development he has planned for facilitating the movement of traffic through 505 the West Riding of Yorkshire southwards and from South Yorkshire to the Great North Road, pending the completion of the London-Yorkshire motorway; and how soon such development will be completed.
§ Mr. WatkinsonAs regards the line of the motorway through Leicestershire I cannot yet add to the reply that my hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Leicester, North-West (Mr. Janner) on 13th May when he explained that further consideration was being given to possible routes.
Because of the inevitable delay before the motorway can be extended into Yorkshire, we are putting in hand some supplementary road works to give the industrial West Riding better links to the modernised Great North Road.
As soon as the preparatory work can be completed, constructional work will be put in hand on the Seacroft by-pass at the eastern end of the Leeds Ring Road, and on the widening of A.63 between the Ring Road and the Great North Road. Some improvement on the A.57 route east of Sheffield will also be made. The work will be done as quickly as possible.
§ Dr. BroughtonIs the Minister aware that this long delay in starting the work of constructing this road is very disappointing to the people in that vitally important industrial area, the West Riding of Yorkshire? To add insult to injury, is he aware that we have learned that there is to be a postponement of the electrification of the main railway line? Why is Yorkshire neglected in this way?
§ Mr. WatkinsonI only deal with the road. The difficulty of getting a road through Leicestershire is just as frustrating to me as it is to the hon. Gentleman.
§ Mr. WadeIs the Minister aware of the serious traffic congestion in the West Riding of Yorkshire? Can he say how soon he will proceed with the motorway from Leeds to Sheffield which may be linked up with the London-Yorkshire motorway? Can he give an assurance that the Leeds-Sheffield motorway will not be delayed merely because of difficulties over the London-Yorkshire motorway?
§ Mr. WatkinsonThe work of finding the line in Yorkshire and all the necessary preliminary work is going on. What I said today is that in the hope of helping Yorkshire over this very difficult interim period we are trying to link across into the new North Road which will give very rapid transit to the south.