M.3 and M.4 Motorways: Road Works (Hansard, 20 December 1990)

§ The Minister of State, Department of Transport (Lord Brabazon of Tara)
My Lords, programming of recent road works on the M.3 in Surrey and on the M.4 in Berkshire was agreed by my department's South East network management division. On major maintenance works the department tries to ensure that, where there is a reasonably convenient alternative route and significant volumes of traffic will use it, the alternative remains free of traffic restrictions. It is not considered that the M.3 and M.4 operate as alternatives to each other for a significant volume of traffic.
I hope that my noble friend will accept my apologies for any inconvenience that he, and others, may have been caused.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, having wished my noble friend many happy returns of the day, perhaps I may ask him whether that episode indicates that, just as the Government are right to legislate to secure co-ordination when roads are dug up by public utilities, a tighter grip is needed on highway authorities. Is he aware that he has not been wholly accurately informed in respect of the considerable volume of traffic which, in view of the proximity of parts of the M.3 and M.4, uses one or the other if it is known that one or other of them is clear? It is for his department to see that there is proper co-ordination not just between public utilities but between highway authorities.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his kind wishes. I shall make it my birthday aim to try to improve the situation he describes. So far as concerns co-ordination, since 1985 the department has had guidelines on the length and spacing of road works and has required its agents to co-ordinate works on trunk and local roads. Since 1987, design standards for road carriageways have been changed to give them a much greater chance of exceeding their design life. I hope that a combination of those factors will greatly increase the life of new and newly strengthened carriageways.

§ Lord Mulley
My Lords, perhaps I may join the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, in wishing the Minister many happy returns of the day, and also 910 commiserate with him that over the years having a birthday so near to Christmas must have been a distinct disadvantage.
Will he apply more widely the important considerations that the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, drew to our attention, because I have already found that on the A.1 one moves from one road blockage to another three or four miles further down the road? The Secretary of State and the department are responsible for motorways and trunk roads. When they authorise the letting of contracts centrally will they ensure that there is the minimum of inconvenience to motorists and the minimum loss of economic wealth to the country which delays inevitably cause?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we will. Our aim is to separate major works by at least 10 kilometres and keep their lengths to no more than four kilometres. There have been four major sets of maintenance works on lengths of the M.3 and M.4 between London and the A.34. All have used the form of contract known as lane rental, in which the contractor is paid a bonus for early completion and charged if he is late. That has proved to be an effective way of reducing the time taken to complete road works.

§ Baroness Strange
My Lords, I wish my noble friend many happy returns of the day, but is he aware that at this time of year the motorways are unusually congested by the hazards caused by teams of reindeer driven by men with white beards and wearing red coats?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I have not spotted any myself, but I take the point made by my noble friend. She and the House will be pleased to know that, as usual, there will be a two-week break on those contracts over the Christmas period and all contraflow and lane restrictions will be removed.

§ Lord Mellish
My Lords, is the Minister aware that some of us are staggered and amazed that no one seems to be working over the weekend at the so-called road works that go on all over the country and that the moment it becomes dark everything packs up except motorists and pedestrians, who are in a terrible state? It does not matter about them. Can the people who are digging holes in the roads be asked to work at the appropriate time so that the task can be completed as quickly as possible?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I disagree with the noble Lord. I have just referred to the lane rental contract system. I drove through the road works to which my noble friend's question referred on a Sunday morning at about nine o'clock and I was glad to see that the men were hard at work.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, will my noble friend bear in mind that it is important to clear motorways when they are blocked? I had to draw his attention recently to the blockage lasting six hours, over 14 miles of solid traffic, on the M.4 between 6.20 in the morning and 12.30. No one was able to move. There 911 were no directions. There seemed to be no effort to clear it quickly. Six hours is a big hazard, with an enormous cost to many people.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, I quite agree with my noble friend. I have written to him on the subject and will follow up the correspondence. The unfortunate circumstances involved in that accident made it more difficult than normal to clear.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, is the Minister aware that although I do not know the circumstances of the occasion to which the noble Lord, Lord Boyd-Carpenter, refers, I looked carefully at the map when I saw the Question? It is wrong to say that the two roads are not close to each other. They are close to each other for a fair distance from the centre of London. Does he appreciate the point that the noble Lord made, that we have spent a great deal of time on the New Roads and Street Works Bill dealing with advance notice, co-ordination and street works registers, which we all accept? Will he make certain that he discusses the subject with the officials to ensure that the same principles apply to maintenance work on the motorways?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords, they will apply. As I said in an earlier answer, we try to co-ordinate them. As concerns the M.3 and M.4, a large amount of maintenance work is required on the two motorways over the next few years. It will not be possible to avoid working on both motorways simultaneously except by having more simultaneous work on one motorway.

§ Lord Nugent of Guildford
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that his point about the introduction of lane rental charges on motorway construction is soundly made? I recently saw a schedule of the savings that had been made in both time and money. It runs into many tens of millions of pounds as a result of the scheme. It has undoubtedly given the necessary incentive to contractors to study not only their interests but also the interests of traffic. Therefore the similar system introduced for public utilities under the current Bill will be much welcomed.

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords, lane rental has been a great success. We go further. We have tried on stretches of the most heavily trafficked parts of the M.3, for example, to use tidal flow arrangements. So we are doing our best to try to minimise inconvenience.

Lord Bruce of Donington
My Lords, will the noble Lord's department give consideration to the continental practice of using mobile coning, where the disruption is limited to a small area in which the work is being carried out, instead of the present practice of coning off a half-mile stretch where road works may be done within the next couple of days?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, yes, we are moving towards the system of having mobile coning arrangements for minor works. Obviously for major road works we have to cone off a considerable part of the motorway.

§ Lord Elton
My Lords, could we commence simultaneous work on the next Question on the Order Paper?