§ 2.50 p.m.
§ LORD ALLERTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans have been made for the conversion of the remaining 3-lane portion of the A.1 road between Stamford and Grantham into a dual carriageway.]
§ LORD LINDGRENMy Lords, this scheme has been included in the Government's trunk road programme. The date for the start of construction will depend on satisfactory completion of the engineering design, the statutory processes under the Highways Act, 1959, and negotiations for acquisition of the land.
§ LORD ALLERTONMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his reply. May I further ask him how many accidents took place on this comparatively short stretch of road—I think it is some seven miles—during the Easter week-end, and whether the number of accidents on this stretch of road was not considerably in excess of the national average?
§ LORD LINDGRENMy Lords, I cannot give the noble Lord the actual figures, but this is a dangerous stretch of road. It is a straight 33 ft. single-carriageway road on which, in theory, accidents should not happen, but on which there have in fact been many severe accidents. That is the reason why this scheme has been brought into the programme and why even, pending the road's reconstruction, there is a 50 m.p.h. speed limit on it. There are offset white lines on it and it is also a Clearway. We are doing everything we can to keep this 7½-mile straight stretch of road as accident-free as possible.