HL Deb 05 April 1982 vol 429 cc6-7

2.53 p.m.

Lord Molloy

My 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 whether they will support the London Borough of Ealing in an endeavour to maintain traffic flow and avoid congestion at the point of the major roadworks now in progress on Western Avenue at Perivale, Middlesex.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Bellwin)

My Lords, it is an unfortunate fact that major improvement measures to busy roads that will ultimately benefit traffic flow and safety can cause problems while under construction. Every effort is being made to keep those problems to a minimum at Perivale. The Metropolitan Police and the London Borough of Ealing are both co-operating closely with my department to achieve this.

Lord Molloy

My Lords, is the noble Lord the Minister aware that the road works now taking place at Perivale, in Middlesex, are part of a massive programme, which 1 am sure will aid everybody in the end, but that, for example, when the flyover was being constructed a few miles away at the Greenford round-about, there was not merely massive congestion, but also a threat of danger to life and limb which would not have arisen had there been sensible and close liaison among the council, the GLC and the Department of Transport? Will the Minister please consider urging that there should be close liaison and that the views of local associations should be taken into consideration so that nothing in the way of a serious accident or unnecessary congestion occurs?

Lord Bellwin

My Lords, I shall be very glad to pass on the noble Lord's comments to those concerned. He may be interested to know that I understand that the contractor will soon be making available a third lane at the Perivale signals. This should come about within the next few weeks.

Lord Molloy

My Lords, may I thank the noble Lord the Minister for the serious manner in which he has treated this matter? The people who live in the area—and I am one of them—will be most grateful to him.