§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what is his revised estimate of the cost of providing a dual carriageway road between Chester and Bangor; and if he will express this as an estimated cost per mile and indicate the estimated date of completion.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasThe provisional programme envisages the substantial completion of the upgrading of the A55 in Wales by the end of the decade subject to the satisfactory completion of engineering design and the statutory procedures and to the availability of resources. The estimated cost of planned schemes and those in progress is about £430 million—an average cost of about £12 million a mile.
§ Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how much money has so far been expended on the projected Chester-Bangor A55 dual carriageway; and if he will list the length and cost of each completed section.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasExcluding expenditure on planned schemes and those in progress, the information is as follows:
Date completed Length miles (kms) Cost (£m cash) Abergele bypass 1968 3.6 (5.8) 1.988 Aber to Tair Meibion 1969 1.5 (2.3) 0.211 East of St. Asaph to Waen Gate (St. Asaph bypass) 1969 2.6 (4.2) 1.753 Chester southerly bypass (Welsh section) 1976 1.1(1.8) 2.367 Northop Hall Crossroads to East of Gables 1976 0.8 (1.2) 0.209 East of Northop Crossroads to East of Gables 1976 0.6 (1.0) 0.116 Coed-y-Cra to Chaingates 1976 0.2 (0.3) 0.433 Holywell bypass (Stage 1) Casino junction 1980 1.4 (2.3) 3.173 Diversion east of Abergele 1981 2.6 (4.2) 7.323 Hawarden bypass 1984 8.0 (12.9) 27.123