§ 47. Sir G. de Freitasasked the Secretary of State for Transport which route bypassing Broughton, Northants, has been approved; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HoramRoute B has been selected as the preferred route. As part of the process of consulting the public an exhibition was held in August 1975, at which three options were suggested for the route of the Broughton bypass on the A43 trunk road in my right hon. Friend's constituency. The two routes to the west516W of the village were strongly favoured by the respondents to the questionnaire and there was a significant majority in favour of Route B.
There is little to choose between the three options on environmental grounds. The selected route will provide a better junction with Cransley Hill than the other western route. The provision of a footbridge near the junction will be examined. The cost of the bypass on this route, at 1975 prices, is £795,000.
The detailed design work will now proceed, and subject to the satisfactory completion of statutory procedures and the availability of funds traffic should start to flow on the bypass some time in 1982.