§ 29. Mr. SandersWhat proposals he has to reduce traffic congestion on the A380 between Newton Abbot and Torbay. [35473]
§ Dr. StrangThe A380 is a local road for which Devon county council is the highway authority. It therefore falls to the council to develop and implement any measures to reduce traffic congestion on the route.
§ Mr. SandersThat was not a particularly helpful answer, given the traffic congestion on that route. At the moment, we are waiting for approval of a private finance initiative scheme to build a bypass, but it looks as though it will not be forthcoming. What specific advice would the Minister give the responsible authority to reduce traffic congestion now and in the future?
§ Dr. StrangAs part of our roads review, we are developing a new appraisal framework to enable us to prioritise road schemes. Although it will be applied to the trunk road programme, it will be available for application to local authority schemes, particularly public-private partnership schemes, which is how the hon. Gentleman's county council has decided to go ahead with that scheme. He may be aware that the county council will require at least another two years' work before it is in a position to sign a contract for such a scheme, so there is no question of the Government delaying the scheme.