HC Deb 24 January 1994 vol 236 cc9-11
6. Dr. Twinn

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what responses he has had from motoring organisations to his Green Paper "Paying for Better Motorways".

The Minister for Roads and Traffic (Mr. Robert Key)

The AA and RAC have publicly recognised the potential benefits that motorway charging could bring. Both organisations favoured electronic technology as the means by which charging should be implemented.

Dr. Twinn

My hon. Friend will be aware from the representations that he has received that there remain concerns about tolling on existing motorways. He will be aware that the concerns are particularly strong in outer London, where the effects of tolling on the M25 could lead to diverting traffic back to London. In my constituency of Edmonton, and in Enfield, we do not wish to see the North Circular and the Great Cambridge road congested.

Mr. Key

My hon. Friend is right. Diversion of traffic off tolled roads is a major problem that must be addressed sensibly, not hysterically. That is precisely why we suggested, in the Green Paper published last year, low tolls on tolled motorways, perhaps up to 1.5p a mile, which is about a quarter of the rate elsewhere. I am sure that my hon. Friend will recognise that doing nothing is not an option. It is precisely because we are not doing enough to upgrade our motorways, including the M25, that we already have problems of diversion back to his constituency.

Mrs. Anne Campbell

Does the Minister agree with the Secretary of State for the Environment on the British strategy for sustainable development, in which he says that projected traffic increases will have unacceptable economic and environmental consequences? Is the Minister still insisting that the information that 55 per cent. of the schemes for motorway programmes will affect 50 sites of special scientific interest should be deleted?

Mr. Key

I never comment on leaked documents. The hon. Lady will have to contain herself until later in the week. I can assure her that we keep traffic forecasts under constant review. She may recall that, as recently as November 1993, I answered a parliamentary question and said that we were reviewing the methodology of traffic forecasting. I wish that the hon. Lady and people who think like her about traffic forecasts would recognise, whenever they hear the figure of 1.5 million new cars a year being bandied about, that that is the gross or total figure. About 80 per cent. of new vehicle registrations are replacements for vehicles already scrapped.

Mr. Shersby

Will my hon. Friend initiate immediate discussions with the motoring organisations about the severe traffic congestion that occurred last night on the eastbound carriageway of the M4 after 10 pm, and again this morning, when traffic was banked up as far as Reading?

Is my hon. Friend aware that the works that he has authorised for the overlaying of the M4 are causing congestion throughout the western approaches to London? Why could they not have waited until the completion of the work on Western avenue at Long lane in Hillingdon, and the ending of the chaos caused by the Olympia bridge works? Does my hon. Friend realise that people coming into London simply cannot afford to be held up for so long? Will he extend the deadline from 10 pm to 11 pm, as that would make a great difference?

Mr. Key

I apologise to drivers who are being held up by the roadworks. It is, however, essential to get them done. My hon. Friend the Minister for Transport in London has been at great pains to ensure that traffic management is optimised; he has discussed the matter with both the police and the motoring organisations.

It is also essential for the work to be done concurrently. We are anxious to avoid a repetition of what happened last summer, when the M4 was closed because the 30-year-old section of road leading to the capital's major airport at Heathrow could not cope with the level of traffic or, indeed, with the hot weather. It is worth doing the work early so as not to have motorways that cannot stand the British summer.