§ 31. Mr. Monroasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what are now the estimated starting dates for the reconstruction to dual-carriageway standard of the Underwoodhouse to Hill Tollbar section and the Hill Tollbar to Mossband railway bridge section of the A.74.
§ Dr. Dickson MabonProviding the necessary orders can be made in time, my right hon. Friend hopes that work will start on the Underwoodhouse-Hill Tollbar scheme in the spring of 1967 and on the Hill Tollbar-Mossband scheme a few months later.
§ Mr. MonroIs the Under-Secretary aware that traffic conditions on this road are now intolerable? Why cannot he revert to the Conservative target of the summer of 1966?
§ Dr. MabonBecause the last Administration set targets but did very little work. The fact is that on the Underwoodhouse to Hill Tollbar scheme it has been necessary to vary the line to achieve better engineering standards. The reason with the second scheme is that we hope that the junction arrangements at Gretna will turn out to be better than our predecessors tried to arrange.