§ 6. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the Minister of Transport why the mileages open to traffic, under construction, for which tenders have been invited, and for which no line has been proposed, for the London-Yorkshire motorway and the M.1 from London to Carlisle, respectively, are greater than the comparative figures for the Lancashire-Yorkshire and Manchester to Preston motorways and the proposed new roads linking Staffordshire and the city of Stoke-on-Trent with these motorways and other principal 419 routes; and what action he proposes to take to speed up the construction of these motorways and roads.
§ Mr. GalbraithThe motorway programme gives first priority to industrial north-south routes. Both the London-Yorkshire motorway and the M.6 motorway between M.1 and the North West fall into this category. The Hanford link to M.6 south of Stoke-on-Trent is open; the Talke link north of the city will be open next spring. We are pressing ahead with the preliminary statutory work for the Preston-Manchester and Lancashire-Yorkshire motorways. We hope to publish a draft Special Road Scheme for the very difficult Lancashire and Pennines section of the latter before the end of the year.