§ Mr. David Atkinsonasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those measures taken by his Department since 1979 which have specifically benefited transport and roads serving the borough of Bournemouth.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyOn trunk roads, for which this Department is directly responsible Bournemouth has 407W benefited from improvements to the A31-A35-M27 south coast trunk route, the A36 route to Bristol and the North, and the extension of the M3 from London.
Schemes opened to traffic include bypasses on the A31 in Dorset of Wimborne, Bere Regis and Ferndown and the completion of the M3 as far as Winchester. On the A36, construction of the Warminster bypass is under way to link with the recently completed Heytesbury bypass. On the A35, work is due to start on the Dorchester bypass later this year.
Preparation is under way on a number of further projects to improve these trunk routes, including schemes to join the M3 directly with the M27 on the south coast route just north of Southampton. In addition, on the A36 preparatory work is in hand on bypasses of Salisbury, Steeple Langford, Codford and Beckington, and in last month's roads White Paper schemes were added for the improvement of the A36 between Heytesbury and Codford as well as for a bypass of West Wellow.
Responsibility for other routes serving the borough lies with the county councils. Since 1979 Dorset county council has received from the Department a total transport supplementary grant of £42 million, a substantial part of which has contributed towards the improvement of Bournemouth's local roads.