M25

HC Deb 14 January 1991 vol 183 cc598-9

Mr. John Marshall

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about progress in upgrading the M25.

Mr. Knapman

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects work to begin on the measures contained in his Department's action plan to improve the operation of the M25 motorway.

Mr. Rifkind

I announced on 3 December that the M25 is to be widened to four lanes, with better lighting and signalling including variable message signs, and that its junctions are to be improved to speed up traffic flows. The design work has now been started.

Mr. Marshall

I welcome my right hon. and learned Friend to the Department of Transport, which proves that there is life after the Scottish Office. Many of us hope that England's roads will become as uncongested as Scotland's roads were under his leadership. Does he agree that the M25's history has been bedevilled by timid planning and inaccurate forecasts? Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that a six-lane highway or a second M25 is needed?

Mr. Rifkind

I thank my hon. Friend for his first comments, which I greatly appreciate.

The current proposal is that there should be a four-lane M25, although it is considered possible that some stretches of that road would be suitable for five lanes. It is always impossible to forecast traffic demand with certainty, but I believe that the M25, even in its present form, has led to considerable benefits, especially by reducing the number of heavy lorries in London. That is of great benefit to those who live in the metropolis.

Mr. Knapman

I warmly welcome my right hon. and learned Friend's statement just before Christmas on improvements to the M25. Have adequate funds been made available for this purpose? What is the likely starting date?

Mr. Rifkind

I can assure my hon. Friend that the programme, which will take a number of years to implement, will be given a high priority in the spending resources of the Department.

The design work has already started; much of the work announced in the action plan is already in hand—for example, variable message signs and signals are to be installed with completion by early 1992 on part of the motorway and contracts for lighting improvements, as well as for a number of other detailed improvements, have been let. Road construction work takes longer because of design work and the necessary planning permission, but we intend to make as much progress as possible over the next few years.

Mr. Tony Banks

Given the scandalous chaos that surrounds the whole M25, what assurance can the Minister give that the planners will get it right this time when they got it so badly wrong the time before? Surely, the more one increases the number of lanes on motorways the more traffic is attracted to them. Would not one of the best ways of dealing with the problems of the M25 be to close it down?

Mr. Rifkind

Those who live in the south-east will learn with considerable interest of the view of Labour Members that we should redirect the huge number of vehicles that use the M25 back into London. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman's constituents would not be grateful for that. One hundred and sixty thousand vehicles a day use the busiest section of the M25 and if it were not available the hon. Gentleman's constituents would be very unimpressed by his suggestion.

Ms. Ruddock

The Secretary of State must know that by the time the fourth lane is completed traffic will have increased by 33 per cent. It cannot be beyond his imagination to accept that neither he nor his Department can provide sufficient road space to meet the increasing demand that his Department predicts. Does he agree with us that the time has come to look at the possibility of new orbital links on the railways around London to try to deal with the growth of traffic?

Mr. Rifkind

For a number of years now there have been substantial increases in investment in the railways. I have no doubt that the rail network will provide part of the solution to the transport needs of this part of the country, but the majority of the public will wish to continue using their own means of transport and it will be a responsibility of whichever party is in government to ensure that the road network can help to meet these requirements.

Mr. Dunn

While a general welcome has been given to the decision to provide lighting along most of the length of the M25, will the Secretary of State explain why it was decided not to provide lighting on the part of the M25 that goes through north-west Kent in general and Dartford in particular?

Mr. Rifkind

So far as I recollect, the only part of the M25 that is not to be provided with lighting is the part that has the lowest volume of traffic and where lighting was not thought to be necessary. However, I will happily look into the matter and write to my hon. Friend.