18. Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Minister of Transport whether, with a view to freeing long convoys of traffic proceeding at a low speed to the West Country in the summer months, he will make short stretches of dual carriageway on A.30 and A.303.
§ Mr. MarplesI would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer I gave him on 27th October. Five of the eleven lengths built or started, and five of the proposed lengths will be dual carriageways. All these are on A.30. We have plans for improvements covering longer distances on A.303.
Mr. Gresham CookeWill my right hon. Friend, bear in mind that the traffic going down to Devon and Cornwall in the summer months proceeds in long convoys of about twenty-five or thirty vehicles on narrow roads which are dangerous and which lead to dangerous overtaking and that between Amesbury and Honiton, for instance, there should be at least two stretches of dual carriageway to allow the traffic to free itself?
§ Mr. MarplesI think that the measures I have now announced will cover that point. Frankly, the situation will not be resolved until the Basingstoke motorway is completed.
§ Mr. P. BrowneWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that if he were to upgrade the Morchard Road and Torrington Road and one or two others in that area, he would relieve a great deal of congestion on the A.30 road?
§ Mr. MarplesIf my hon. Friend has in mind any particular roads which he would like to be moved higher in the priority list, I shall be glad to have details of them.