HC Deb 28 November 1988 vol 142 cc424-6
11. Mr. Devlin

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new road schemes will be started in 1989.

Mr. Channon

About 40.

Mr. Devlin

In view of the high premium that roads in the north-east will have in the run-up to 1992, will my right hon. Friend tell me whether included in the number for announcement next year are the Stockton south spine road, the A167 Middleton St. George bypass and the three-lane motorway scheme to replace the A1, which is currently effecting a wall of congestion between the north-east of England and the rest of the country?

Mr. Channon

I had better write to my hon. Friend on some of the more detailed points. I am strongly in favour of improving road links to the north and hope to start the Woolsington bypass in the north-east and to make improvements in north Yorkshire. With the extra amount of money available for road expenditure, I am looking forward to extensive improvements to the Al, especially in Yorkshire, and to a general review of the whole road programme. I shall bear what my hon. Friend has said in mind.

Mr. Haynes

Is the Secretary of State aware that I am a cyclist, that there are a great many of us in the Chamber right now and that we are shocked and appalled by the fact that none of the new roads provided in the past and none of those proposed for the future give proper consideration to cyclists? I want to know what he is going to do about that.

Mr. Channon

In conjunction with my hon. Friend the Minister responsible for roads, I shall consider what the hon. Gentleman has said, and I am sure that we shall be able to do everything that he wants.

Mr. Moate

What is my right hon. Friend doing to speed up the decision-making and planning processes involved in new road schemes? Does he accept that, compared with the speed of industrial and economic change today, and with the practice of our competitors on the continent, our present processes are painfully and unacceptably slow?

Mr. Channon

Practice varies in different parts of the continent and in some places the processes are considerably slower even than those of the British system. Of course, we must have a system to preserve people's democratic rights and the planning procedures. However, I am working on improvements to the internal mechanisms of the Department, which I hope will ensure a significant speeding up of the present procedures.

Mr. Clelland

Does the Secretary of State's programme include the completion of improvements to the A69 between Carlisle and Newcastle? If not, when can we expect the improvements to be completed?

Mr. Channon

There are improvements in the programme, but I do not think that all the possible improvements are included. Again, I shall write to the hon. Gentleman. He will be pleased with the progress on the Newcastle bypass.

13. Mr. Thurnham

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the progress of the current road building programme in the north-west.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Seven major motorway and trunk road construction contracts are currently under way with a total value of around £100 million.

Non-trunk road schemes are the responsibility of the region's 18 local highway authorities.

Mr. Thurnham

Bearing in mind the congestion on roads in the north of my constituency, will my hon. Friend examine the need to designate as a trunk road the A666, which links with the M61? What is he doing to improve the dreadfully designed junction of the M61 with the M6?

Mr. Bottomley

I am aware of the junction to which my hon. Friend draws attention. We have had consultants look at it. We are not likely to trunk the A666 in the short term, partly because we are giving transport supplementary grant for some of the improvements to it.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

Why is the construction of the M66 in my constituency being delayed? Why has the completion date slipped by almost six months? When does the Minister expect the Denton to Hollinwood section to be completed? It would do a great deal to relieve the horrific congestion on the east side of Manchester.

Mr. Bottomley

Our aim, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, is to ensure that the statutory procedures are completed properly, but without undue delay and to ensure that we can spend the money so that work can be completed. I cannot answer the hon. Gentleman's question and give a precise date for when the road will be finished.

Mr. Leigh

Will my hon. Friend consider the many requests being put to him by Humberside councils and Lincolnshire county council for an extension of the M11 to the Humber bridge and then northwards to York? The problems on the Al are the result of overloading. The whole of the east midlands would benefit from an extension of the M11.

Mr. Bottomley

Taking the needs of the east midlands and the north-east together, it is right to continue with improvements to the A1, which is what I said earlier to the hon. Member for Durham, North-West (Ms. Armstrong). When we have done that, we may well consider what further can be done.