HC Deb 19 May 1986 vol 98 cc2-3
2. Mr. David Atkinson

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the M3-M27 motorway link to be completed.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. Peter Bottomley)

We await the inspector's report on the final section of the M3. This section of the route from Bar End to Bassett may be completed by 1989.

Mr. Atkinson

Business commuters and tourists to Dorset will welcome that day, but in the meantime is my hon. Friend satisfied with the safety of the existing link, the A33 Eastleigh bypass which The Economist recently described as a "death trap"?

Mr. Bottomley

People rightly draw attention to dangers on our roads. We recognise the concern that exists, and have agreed to extend the central reserve crash barrier near Ironbridge at Crompton. Barriers on the rest of the Otterbourne to Chandlers Ford bypass would probably not be justified for the short period of use involved before the M3 extension is completed.

Mr. John Browne

Does my hon. Friend accept that the completion of that stretch of motorway has serious implications for the noble and ancient city of Winchester? Will he ask the Secretary of State to warn his Cabinet colleagues that there must be an unusual degree of expenditure in order to protect the environment and to prevent irreparable damage being done to the city? I am thinking, for example, of the construction of a tunnel to the south and south-east of St. Catherine's hill in order to protect this beautiful city, which is important and historic both nationally and internationally?

Mr. Bottomley

My hon. Friend has made his local anxieties plain and I am sure that his message will have been heard.