HC Deb 30 July 1984 vol 65 cc2-3
1. Mr. Straw

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce his decision relating to the Whitebirk-Blackburn to M6–M61 section of the M65 motorway.

The Minister of State, Department of Transport (Mrs. Lynda Chalker)

As I announced on 26 July, in a written reply to my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr. Atkins), I have decided to include in the trunk road programme an all-purpose trunk road route to the south of Blackburn which would link the M65 at Whitebirk with the M6 and M61.

Mr. Straw

Is the Minister aware that her announcement last Thursday to make the link between the M65 and the M61 was widely welcomed in my constituency and throughout north-east Lancashire and that we are grateful to her? As there has been a four-year delay since the cancellation of the original motorway scheme from the M65 to the M61, much anxiety has been caused in my constituency and elsewhere about how long the new road scheme will take. May we have some idea of how long it will be before the new road is built?

Mrs. Chalker

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his comments. He knows that the decision was difficult and finely balanced. I shall be approaching the consultants shortly and asking them to study the route south of Blackburn. It is too early to predict what will happen, but I give him and other interested hon. Members the assurance that we shall move as speedily as is sensible.

Mr. Robert Atkins

Is my hon. Friend aware how pleased I and many other colleagues are by her decision, based on the facts presented to her by a variety of people? Is she further aware how grateful we are, particularly in my constituency in the Samlesbury and Mellor Brook area, that the plan chosen is not that which would have damaged the east part of my constituency? May we have an undertaking, now or as soon as possible, that the proposed trunk route will be upgraded to motorway standard if necessary?

Mrs. Chalker

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for welcoming the announcement. I am aware of the need to consider the Samlesbury junction with the M6. I cannot give the assurance that my hon. Friend seeks, because that would prejudice the work on which the consultants are about to embark. However, I shall keep his remarks in mind.