§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Pym.]
§ 10.21 p.m.
§ Mr. Sydney Irving (Dartford)In raising the problems of traffic and road safety on the A2 at Dartford, I am conscious that it is the Minister's intention to bypass this stretch of road completely with the improved A2. This is one of his five major schemes. The road will be diverted from the present position throughout almost the whole of its passage through the Dartford constituency. This project appears to have fallen very much behind schedule. The whole of the 42 miles were to be completed by 1967, but except at Swanscombe there is little evidence that this work is being undertaken.
I want to ask, first, what progress the Minister hopes to make with the scheme, and particularly when he expects the diversion through Dartford will be completed. It is clear that even when the new A2 is finished there will still be a very serious situation. The interim problem is dangerous enough to justify immediate action. The danger has been aggravated by the opening earlier this year of the Dartford Tunnel. There are two contributory causes to this. In his Press hand-out in February, 1963, the Minister described the present A2 as seriously overloaded, having a bad accident record, and an annual traffic increase higher than average. Because of the tunnel traffic, there has been a serious deterioration, and at a survey in June this year it was found that 32,600 passenger car units per 16 hour day were using this road. It may well be that the figure on the stretch of road I am talking about is greater than that, because the survey was taken at Cobham and it may be that some vehicles disappear from the road before they get to Cobham at the point where the survey was taken.
For some years the district councils and Kent County Council have pleaded that the Minister should ensure an adequate south orbital road should be constructed in time for the tunnel opening to carry traffic away from the area and not to 1162 complicate the already difficult problems which exist and have existed for some time. As far back as 1961 a delegation consisting of a number of hon. Members local to the area and of the district councils and Kent County Council waited on the Minister to ensure that the south orbital road would be constructed in time. Except for getting permission to draw a line on the map, that delegation got nowhere. The impression which some of us got was that the Minister was oblivious of the need for such a road at the time.
It seems obvious that if we build an expensive project such as the Thames Tunnel and neglect to provide communicating roads north and south, this is both shortsighted and a doubtful economy for which the Minister will have to pay dearly in future. On several occasions since that time I have warned the Minister about the consequences of his failure to provide such a south orbital road, and, unhappily, all our fears at that time are being realised and the confusion and danger grows steadily day by day.
The Minister must accept responsibility for this, and he must accept responsibility on another count. I have said that the traffic flow on that road before the construction of the tunnel was unusually high. Not only is all the additional traffic coming from the tunnel decanted directly on the A2, but the Minister has permitted the construction of a junction which must be at least 30 years behind the times. I also believe it to be an affront to all modern principles of traffic management. It is a 200 ft. roundabout with two slip roads leading on the north directly to the tunnel road, and when one comes up from the tunnel it is almost impossible to get a clear view of the traffic coming round the roundabout. This is because the motorist is coming up the slope and the roundabout is on a high level.
In addition, the motorist can proceed only east or west when he gets to the roundabout. If he wishes to turn right and to go east to London, he must cross the whole of the traffic flow coming from London and he must then filter, if he wishes to turn eastwards, into the natural flow of traffic on the other side of the roundabout. This violates every modern principle of traffic 1163 management of ensuring that traffic entering a main road does so with the natural flow of traffic and not against it.
I believe that this expensive folly will have either to be scrapped or to be severely modified if we are to have traffic running smoothly and to avoid the danger which is building up there. I should like to know, therefore, what the Minister proposes to do about the roundabout and when he intends to provide the south orbital road which will take some of the traffic from the tunnel away south, where it wishes to go.
In the meantime, and until we get the diversion of the south orbital road, there is an urgent need for interim safety measures at several junctions within a mile on either side of the roundabout. Less than a mile away to the west we have the junction at Low-field Street with the A2, which I understand is the black spot in Kent, Kent's No. 1 danger point. Here we very urgently need railings. We need a much more complicated phasing of the traffic lights system to allow the traffic which is not going straight across the crossing to have time to get clear before the lights change against it. My own view is that eventually we shall need a flyover at this point.
At Green Street Green Road we have a pedestrian bridge, and we are grateful that recently we have had ramps put on the bridge. This provides a temporary measure until such time as a further instalment of the tunnel approach road is built and subways are provided, but the traffic congestion at the junction is most acute because of the awkward character of the junction, and it is not uncommon to see, six, eight or nine cars standing in the centre of the road waiting to turn right. If one wants to get on to the A2 from Green Street Green Road or Park Road, it is a dangerous exercise not to be undertaken without police assistance. I believe that the junction will have to be completely reconstructed or that traffic lights will need to be provided and carefully phased to allow a proper filter system for the traffic going in each of the three directions in which it can possibly go from any one exit.
To the east, and not much further than 100 yards from the roundabout, there is the junction between Princes 1164 Avenue and the A2. This is the only vehicular access from a newly constructed estate which already has 1,200 houses on it. Cars wait like sitting ducks in the centre of the three-stream road, waiting to turn into Princes Avenue. Last August I was sitting in just such a position in my car when a heavy cable lorry crashed into the rear of my car and spun it round into the face of an on-coming eight-wheel paper lorry. The result was that my car was a complete write-off and I had a very narrow escape from death. Here again, only something which will interrupt the flow of traffic will provide safe passage for people either going into Princes Avenue or coming out of it. There is a long, straight stretch of road here and an incentive to motorists to speed.
About 200 yards to the east is a pedestrian exit from this estate, forming a natural crossing point for people going to the shops and bus stops in Watling Street. It is also a natural crossing for mothers with young children going at least twice a day to Brent School. It is now almost impossible to find shepherds to supervise these crossings, and it needs at least signs warning of children crossing; although eventually some form of bridge or subway will have to be provided. It is not good enough to say that these mothers with their children who are mainly aged five to seven, should have to leave the estate by exits further along the street, for this would add a half to three quarters of a mile to their journey—and considering the difficulties at the other crossings this might even add to the danger.
I will comment further on this question of children crossing the road because this problem is acute in other parts of my constituency. I am sure that this is a problem common to many hon. Members. On the A20 the situation is arising where it is impossible to get shepherds to supervise the crossings, even where there are panda crossings or other crossings on this busy road. It must also be remembered that it is stretching the resources of the police when they have to provide policemen to supervise these crossings. At three crossings—at West View, White Oak and Salisbury Avenue—there are about 1,000 children going to and from school each day, and although they are police 1165 controlled there is an increasing danger and I hope that the matter will be looked into.
A further 200 yards to the east on the A2 is the junction with Gore Road which, because of the curve in the road and the high speed of traffic in both directions, is equally hazardous. To the east there are the Bean crossroads which, because of the danger there, were not long ago remodelled to minimise the danger, but anyone going across the Bean crossroads will see the very serious danger that exists because, as the road to the east dips quickly away from the crossing, it is impossible to see fast westbound traffic approaching the crossing. Surely something can be done to cure this danger spot?
These are the urgent problems to which solutions are required at once. It is not good enough to say that the diversion and the south orbital road will release pressure on this road, for this is a questionable proposition, although to some extent it will help. Local and area traffic will, however, increase in the next year or two at a considerable rate and, even with the new project, will leave a dangerous traffic problem indeed.
In any case, local people cannot hope for any relief from this traffic pressure for at least another two or three years; that is, if the Minister is able to keep to his time-table, which is doubtful. Therefore, I submit that there is a desperate need and a dangerous situation, and I beg the Minister to say tonight that the Government realise the urgency of the problem, that a review will be put in hand at once and that some relief from these danger spots I have outlined will be forthcoming.
§ 10.33 p.m.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. T. G. D. Galbraith)The subject we are discussing tonight involves one of the major trunk roads in the country which goes through the hon. Gentleman's constituency. The hon. Gentleman has been very industrious in bringing his constituents' interest in this road to our notice, has asked a great many Questions and written many letters, and tonight he has expressed, once more, his concern at the traffic situation.
I am glad that he has raised this matter tonight, because it gives me an 1166 opportunity to review the whole position and to tell the hon. Gentleman and his constituents how my right hon. Friend is progressing with his plans. It is a little over five years since the hon. Member asked the then Minister what proposals he had for alterations, diversions and improvements to the A2. He was told, in reply, that dual carriageways would be provided from the L.C.C. boundary at Woolwich to the start of the Medway Motorway; that is, the M2. At that time the Minister could not forecast when construction works were likely to start.
Since then, I am glad to say, enormous strides have been taken, and only three months ago my right hon. Friend was able to inform the hon. Member that work on the diversion of the A2 at Dart-ford is expected to start in the autumn of 1965. Work on the eastern section, between the proposed Dartford diversion and the western end of the Medway Motorway, has already started.
Traffic between London and the Kentish coastal resorts and the Channel ports is served by two trunk roads—the A2 and the A20. My right hon. Friend's planning had to take into account that when the Maidstone bypass was opened the A20 would take more than its normal share of traffic; equally, when the Medway Motorway was opened a great deal of traffic would be attracted back to the A2. My right hon. Friend, taking these factors into account, announced that major improvement of the A2 from the L.C.C. boundary eastward to the Medway Motorway would have high priority in his 5-year trunk road programme.
The total length of A2 to be improved is 16¼ miles. Over the greater part of this, the present road has only a single carriageway 30 feet or 40 feet wide. My right hon. Friend's proposals for major improvements are for an all-purpose road to be constructed to the highest modern standards with adequate sightlines and, in general, with grade-separated junctions. The proposed layout will provide dual 36 feet wide carriageways separated by an unbroken central reservation 10 feet wide in Bexley and at least 15 feet wide elsewhere. The volumes of traffic to be expected on the improved road require three traffic lanes in each direction throughout this length. The total estimated cost of this major improvement is about £13 million—something very big indeed.
1167 As I have said, work has already started on the eastern section and should be completed in less than two years from now, while my right hon. Friend hopes to start the building of the Dartford diversion in the autumn of next year. As part of that contract, there will be included the construction of the south orbital road from the present A2 to the diversion. My right hon. Friend is well aware that the south orbital road is a very important project which should be started at the earliest possible moment.
Quite a lot of progress has been made in planning the south orbital road since my right hon. Friend received the delegation to which the hon. Member has referred. My right hon. Friend has already published the proposed route from the Dartford Tunnel to the A20 trunk road, and he will publish further Orders under the Highways Act, 1959, for further sections of the road as soon as the preparatory work has been completed. So I really do not think that it was quite fair for the hon. Gentleman to suggest that my right hon. Friend was not interested in this project. He has, in fact, been as active as it is possible for him to be.
In its entirety, however, the south orbital road is a very expensive project, and it would not be feasible to build it at one go, because it stretches from the Dartford Tunnel in a semi-circle round to the Thames at Staines—quite a distance. So it will have to be built in sections, taking the most urgent parts first, and the hon. Member will be glad to know that, in the opinion of my right hon. Friend, the most urgent section in Kent after the part between the present A2 and the Dartford diversion will be its continuation to the A20. He plans to be able to start building this in the next extension of the trunk road programme.
All these road schemes will make a major contribution to improving the general traffic conditions in the area, and I hope that what I have said shows the hon. Gentleman that there are not any unavoidable delays.
After those general remarks, I should like to deal with some of the detailed problems which the hon. Gentleman mentioned, and which exist in the meantime. The first matter to which he 1168 referred was the roundabout, which he described as being of out-of-date design for the junction of the Tunnel Approach Road with the A2. He has complained that the motorist has to cross the whole flow of traffic from London going towards the Medway Towns before he can join other traffic approaching from the east going towards London. He has also said that drivers leaving the Tunnel Approach Road have inadequate vision of other vehicles in the roundabout. As to the first point, concerning design, the hon. Gentleman should remember that what he sees today at the roundabout is only a part of the final layout at this junction.
Furthermore, the main interchange between the traffic stream to which the hon. Member referred will in future take place not at this roundabout but at the junction of the south orbital road with the Dartford diversion. This will be a full-grade separated junction and will be built to the most modern standards as part of the Dartford diversion in a couple of years' time. The capacity of the roundabout will then be more than adequate for the volumes of traffic likely to use this interchange.
The other point which the hon. Member raised about the roundabout concerned the difficulties of vision. Although traffic leaving the tunnel is on an upgrade, as the hon. Member said, a level section has purposely been provided just before it joins the roundabout. The parapet here is only 3 ft. 6 ins. high and all but the very lowest of vehicles can see over it, and all drivers can actually see approaching vehicles through it. Apart from what the hon. Member said tonight, my right hon. Friend is not aware of any record of complaints about vision at the roundabout. The hon. Member may care to have another look at it in the light of what I have said.
The hon. Member also raised the question of the Lowfield Street junction, and he may have gone a little too far in saying that my right hon. Friend considered this to have the worst record in Kent. I should point out, for the sake of accuracy, that the figures which I gave the hon. Member last January in reply to his Question related only to the length of the A2 in his constituency. I am pleased to be able to tell him that 1169 there has recently been a marked improvement in the accident record at this junction. During the first six months of this year there were two accidents there resulting in two cases of slight injury, compared with 16 accidents and 21 injuries during the previous twelve months, and 13 accidents and 16 injuries in 1962. Therefore, there has been an improvement. Nevertheless, my right hon. Friend has considered what further improvements can be made at this junction and he has arranged for the layout to be modified and the phasing of the signals to be adjusted to assist right-turning traffic. As the hon. Member has said, it is such traffic that has in the past been the main cause of accidents at this point.
The hon. Member referred to the problems of drivers at the Green Street Green—Park Road junction. I am glad that he referred also to the ramps for the footbridge which my right hon. Friend has provided, with the assistance of a contribution from Kent County Council to the cost of improving this footbridge for schoolchildren with bicycles and for mothers with prams. But to redesign the whole junction to solve the problem of turning traffic would be very expensive. My right hon. Friend considers that he would not be justified in diverting from other most urgent proposals even some of his funds to this improvement.
The reason for my right hon. Friend's reluctance is that the situation will be greatly improved when the amount of traffic on the main road, the A2, is reduced by the construction of the Dartford diversion. Similarly, the cost of a complicated system of traffic signals at this point could not be justified in view of the limited time during which it would be needed. There is the further objection that the signals would be very close to the roundabout, and that is an added disadvantage from the point of view of safety.
As to Princes Avenue. I was sorry to hear about the accident in which the hon. Member was involved last summer. I am glad to see that apparently it has had no effect upon his health. My right hon. Friend is aware of the difficulties here, mainly for right-turning vehicles and for pedestrians from the large housing estate nearby who want to cross the trunk 1170 road. To deal with the traffic, my right hon. Friend's engineers have studied suggestions for islands to be sited in the main road. Unfortunately, they found that these would not prove satisfactory in this situation. Islands of about 15 ft. in width would be required and would have to extend over a considerable length to give adequate protection to turning traffic. Sufficient room for two lanes of traffic on either side on the trunk road would need to be maintained here and, unfortunately, there is no room for them. As the hon. Member knows, the junction is only about 130 yards from the roundabout and traffic signals within such a short distance as that would be unsatisfactory and perhaps potentially dangerous.
With regard to pedestrian problems, the hon. Member will appreciate that when the section of the south orbital road down to the Dartford diversion is constructed, the complete roundabout will include facilities for pedestrians crossing the trunk road.
The hon. Gentleman referred to a natural crossing point 200 yards east of Princes Avenue on Dovedale Road. It has no connection with the trunk road and there is, therefore, no problem for vehicles. But when the nearby estate was developed, an unclimbable fence was provided over a length of some 600 yards to stop indiscriminate crossing of the road, so the crossing to which the hon. Member has referred must be through an unauthorised gap in this fence. I can, however, tell the hon. Gentleman that my right hon. Friend recognises the difficulties at Princes Avenue for drivers, and for pedestrians, whether they are authorised or not, at Dovedale Road, and he has instructed his engineers to re-examine the whole traffic pattern and the pedestrian problem on this stretch of the A2. He has asked them for their recommendations and he will then sympathetically consider, after consulting the local highway authorities, what alterations are possible.
The hon. Gentleman referred to the Gore Road junction, and here conditions are complicated by the proximity on the north side of the junction of Watling Street with the trunk road. No complaints of conditions here have been made to my right hon. Friend, but I am bound to say that any modifications 1171 would be quite extensive and would have to include the Watling Street junction. On the evidence at present available to my right hon. Friend, he considers that the cost would be unjustified in competition with other more immediately needed schemes.
Then the hon. Gentleman referred to the Bean Road crossroads, which was reconstructed by my right hon. Friend's agent authority, the Kent County Council, some two years ago. It is, of course, properly marked by double white lines. Suggestions have been received from local residents that a signal control might be provided, but my right hon. Friend's engineers have advised him that the volumes of turning traffic provide insufficient justification for signals, and anyway they would be on a straight road in open country which is a dangerous feature. Furthermore, as the hon. Gentleman will appreciate, the junction will be completely reconstructed as a roundabout forming part of the Dartford diversion in three years time.
The hon. Gentleman referred to the difficulties of people, mainly school children, on another road. Up to now we have been dealing with the A2, and I would now like to turn to the A20, on which the hon. Gentleman referred to the difficulties that children and old people may have in crossing the road at Swanley. There are three particular places where it has been suggested—I do not think the hon. Gentleman suggested it—that footbridges should be provided with ramps for the elderly, infirm and mothers with prams. This is a matter which has been raised with my right hon. Friend only a few days ago in a letter from the Swanley Parish Council following a letter dated 7th July that the council received from the north-west Kent division of the Kent Education Committee. So the hon. Gentleman has been very quick off the mark.
I should like to explain briefly what my right hon. Friend's general approach to this problem is. Footbridges are by no means the only solution, and sometimes they may be a quite unsatisfactory answer. It all depends on the particular circumstances of each case. If the use likely to be made justifies it, a subway 1172 may be preferable even though in general it will be more expensive than a footbridge. My right hon. Friend's engineers estimate that ramped footbridges at Swanley would cost between £5,000 and £6,000 each. Another factor which has to be taken into account is the time factor. On present indications it would take many months before plans could be prepared in detail, and, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the bypass round Swanley would probably be in operation a year or so after that.
Now, a word about speed of construction, a subject on which the hon. Gentleman rather criticised my right hon. Friend. Unless unforeseen difficulties arise, I think that it would not be too optimistic to hope that the whole stretch of the A2 will be completed in the next four years.
I do not want to be outdone by the hon. Gentleman, who mentioned a great many roads, and, just to show that I, too, have done some homework, here are two which he did not mention-Shepherds Lane and Darenth Road. He will be interested to know that we are proposing to carry out modifications at these junctions as well. New controllers are to be provided and at Shepherds Lane improvements will be made to the layout of the junction.
Although this is, perhaps, not much consolation to the hon. Gentleman, what is happening in his constituency is happening in many other areas. It is part of the price which has to be paid for modernising our road system. While the transformation is being undertaken, the situation is, naturally, unpleasant, but I hope that I have shown that, so far as the road schemes are concerned, we are getting a move on. As regards the places which he mentioned, particularly Princes Avenue, Dovedale Road, Lowfield Street and the footbridges at Swanley, I hope I have convinced him that the re-examination of the traffic pattern in the area, including the needs of pedestrians, shows that my right hon. Friend is anxious to produce a solution which would be helpful not only to the hon. Gentleman but to his constituents as a whole.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at nine minutes to Eleven o'clock.