HC Deb 08 November 1972 vol 845 cc993-5
33. Mr. Wall

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he is taking to provide traffic routes for heavy lorries from the Humber Bridge northwards to York and the Tyne and Tees.

Mr. Eyre

By the time the bridge is opened in 1976, a new high-standard route using A63/M62 to Ferrybridge and A1 will be available for northbound traffic. Improvements are also planned on the existing routes north of Hull.

Mr. Wall

Is my hon. Friend aware that the new motorways go east and west from the end of the bridge and that a new road is planned to go due north, but that it is a county road? At the present rate it will not be completed until the 1980s. The whole of the county area of Beverley will be gravely affected unless it is completed soon?

Mr. Eyre

I am sure that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of Slate will take careful note of my hon. Friend's remarks.

40. Mr. R. C. Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimate he has made of the number of additional heavy goods vehicles which will use trunk roads leading to Southampton Docks when British Rail close their freight service to those docks.

Mr. Eyre

No more than 50 lorries a day on average, if all the freight to be carried during 1972 by the services to be withdrawn were transferred to road.

Mr. Mitchell

Although I believe that the Minister has seriously under-estimated the number of vehicles involved, is it not absolutely absurd that even more vehicles are being forced on to our already overcrowded roads? Surely the Minister's policy should be that more rather than less freight should be sent by rail?

Mr. Eyre

As the hon. Member knows, the withdrawal of the freight service was entirely a matter of commercial judgment by British Rail. The roads to which he refers are carrying thousands of vehicles a day, and the amount of additional traffic will not be significant. Furthermore, there are proposals for a very substantial improvement to be made in the road system around Southampton in the next few years.

Mr. James Hill

While agreeing with my hon. Friend, may I point out that I do not think that he can be aware that the M3 and the M27 are not finished. We have no roads to the Midlands. This has been a rather hasty decision, and possibly ahead of time.

Mr. Eyre

I stress that the decision was made as a result of a commercial judgment by British Rail, for impelling reasons.

Mr. Mulley

I accept that British Rail may have been forced to make the decision because there is no means of subsidising freight traffic, but will the hon. Gentleman and his right hon. Friend consider whether, in the national interest, services of this kind should be preserved and financial provision made to British Rail to sustain them? In view of what we read in the newspapers about the possibility of heavier lorries coming from our docks as a result of our entry to the EEC, will the hon. Gentleman ask his right hon. Friend to make an early statement to the House about this matter? Will he also advise his right hon. Friend that many people regard the question of keeping the maximum axle weight at what it is now as a matter of vital national interest?

Mr. Eyre

I understand the right hon. Gentleman's feelings, but in this case it is possible that a good proportion of the freight traffic will transfer to other rail freight services running from Southampton.