§ Mr. Newensasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average current cost of constructing one mile of motorway at the present time.
§ Mr. CarmichaelThe construction costs vary widely depending on the nature of the terrain through which the motorway passes and whether the location is urban or rural. On rural motorway schemes for which contracts were let in 1972–74, costs at January 1975 prices were in the range of £0.76 million to £3.85 million per mile for dual three-lane motorways with an average of £1.70 million and for dual two-lane motorways a range of £0.87 million to £1.66 million per mile with an 155W average of £1.24 million. Urban motorway costs are usually considerably higher than rural ones.