§ LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTHMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government the number of miles of "three-carriageway" trunk roads there are in England, Scotland and Wales; how many miles of such roads there are under construction and how many miles of such roads is it intended to construct under existing programmes.]
THE EARL OF GOSFORDMy Lords, I understand that the noble Lord in his Question is referring to trunk roads with single carriageways providing three traffic lanes. There are, in all, in Great Britain 1,076 miles of such roads at present in existence; about 23 miles are under construction (this includes widening schemes) and 116 miles are planned under existing programmes.
446 With the noble Lord's permission, I will circulate the separate figures for England, Wales and Scotland in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following are the figures referred to:
| Miles Existing | Miles under Construction> | Miles Planned | |
| England | 906¼ | 18¾ | 84¾ |
| Wales and Monmouthshire | 57¼ | 3½ | 25¼ |
| Scotland | 112¼ | ½ | 6 |
| TOTALS | 1,075¾ | 22¾ | 116 |
§ LORD LUCAS OF CHILWORTHMy Lords, the noble Earl will agree that his reply to my Question raises points of policy which it would be inappropriate for me to attempt to deal with by question and answer, and I will return to this particular subject on June 10 on the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. In the meantime, might I ask the noble Earl if he would be kind enough to ask his right honourable friend the Minister for Transport whether he will give special consideration to bringing into force the excellent scheme which is laid out in the Traffic Signs (Amendment) Regulation, 1959, the new white line scheme in places where these three carriage lane traffic roads are veritable death traps, and the application of this particular plan may cause a great improvement? I would ask the noble Earl to convey to his right honourable friend one outstanding example, and that is part of the A.40 running west from Headington Roundabout—the Northern Oxford by-pass, where there have been 40 accidents in fifteen months, five of them fatal, the greatest single factor being the crossing of white lines to the centre carriage lane.
THE EARL OF GOSFORDMy Lords, first of all I am grateful to the noble Lord for telling me the argument he is going to put in the course of the debate next month. I will certainly bring to the attention of my right honourable friend the remarks the noble Lord has made, and if he could give me further details of the particular case he mentions I will gladly take it up. As to the dual white 447 lines, as your Lordships know, they came into force yesterday, and I have no doubt that they will be placed in all appropriate places in the road system as soon as possible.