§ 33. Mr. Madelasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has for the construction of a north-south bypass of Dunstable to relieve congestion on the A5 in Dunstable; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SpeedThe scheme to by-pass the A5 in Dunstable has reached a stage at
FREIGHT TRAFFIC Road Freight Rail Freight Other Modes* Year Ton miles (thousand million) Percentage of all Ton miles (thousand million) Percentage of all freight Ton miles (thousand million) Percentage of all freight 1962 … … 33.6 52 16.1 25 14.9 23 1963 … … 35.1 53 15.4 23 15.5 24 1964 … … 40.2 56 16.1 22 15.9 22 1965 … … 42.1 57 15.4 21 16.2 22 1966 … … 44.8 59 14.8 19 16.5 22 1967 … … 45.6 60 13.6 18 16.3 22 1968 … … 48.3 61 14.7 18 16.5 21 1969 … … 49.3 61 15.3 19 16.5 20 1970 … … 50.8 61 16.4 20 16.1 19 1971 … … 52.0 63 14.9 18 15.2 19 1972† … … 8.3 n.a. 2.7 n.a. n.a. n.a. (1st 2 months) (1st 12 weeks) * "Other modes" consists of coastal shipping, pipelines and inland waterways. † Figures for 1972 are affected by the dispute in the coal industry. The average lengths of haul in 1962 were:
94W
Road … 27 miles Rail … 67 miles which it will be ready to be considered when further selections for the trunk road preparation pool are made.