§ 31. Sir A. Meyerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the earliest date at which he expects to announce the completion of dual carriageway connections between the Welsh border in the Chester area and the M6 motorway at the Warrington exit for traffic from the north and the Stoke exit for traffic from the south.
§ Mr. CarmichaelI have nothing to add to the answer given to the hon. Member on 13th November about the completion of the M56 motorway between the M6 near Warrington and Lea-by-Backford near Chester; but I am urgently considering the possibility of dualling the 2½ miles of the A5117 between Lea-by-Backford and the Welsh border. Forecast traffic flows do not justify the improvement to dual carriageway standards of the A51/A52 route between the Welsh border and the M6 near Stoke-on-Trent.
§ Sir A. MeyerWill the hon. Gentleman remove the misconception widely held in Wales that his Department operates with a map from which all of Wales, except Glamorgan, has been erased? I assure the hon. Gentleman that if he prolongs dual carriageways beyond the Welsh border they will not fall over the edge. Indeed, they might even succeed in waking up the Secretary of State for Wales to building some roads on his side of the border.
§ Mr. CarmichaelI am sure that the Secretary of State for Wales, having been a transport Minister, is well aware of the problems. The forecast traffic flows do not justify dualling beyond the border. If the hon. Member would like to raise 1555 this matter more fully with me, I should be only too pleased to reply to him personally.