HC Deb 05 March 1997 vol 291 cc607-9W
Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish by region the residual life remaining in those parts of the trunk road network in England, including bridges, classified as condition orange and condition red for traffic congestion according to the maps produced by the national roads network assessment system for(a) 1995, (b) 2005 and (c) 2015. [17704]

Mr. Watts

[holding answer 26 February 1997]: Residual life provides a measure of the remaining strength of a road in terms of the number of years of forecast traffic loading it is estimated to be able to carry before strengthening should be considered. Even at the stage of zero residual life, the road will perform quite satisfactorily

Annex A: Residual life of those parts of the trunk road network classified as condition orange in 1995
Region <0 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 >19
London 16.00 0.00 0.00 2.00 28.00 54.00
Southern 7.32 8.55 12.00 11.39 23.74 37.00
Midland 8.20 15.06 16.83 15.12 16.09 28.70
Northern 4.75 7.11 12.44 13.51 29.41 32.78

Annex B: Residual life of those parts of the trunk road network classified as condition red in 1995
Region <0 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 >19
London 16.93 12.94 18.35 14.51 15.65 21.62
Southern 4.52 5.87 11.16 7.61 28.30 42.54
Midland 8.28 9.93 14.37 17.31 16.69 33.42
Northern 6.56 8.82 10.39 15.67 31.36 27.20

Annex C: Residual life of those parts of the trunk road network classified as condition orange in 2005
Region <0 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 >19
London 13.54 9.80 14.99 21.33 13.54 26.80
Southern 4.95 6.88 10.08 13.05 25.50 39.54
Midland 6.53 11.87 13.23 13.39 16.69 38.29
Northern 5.42 7.34 11.68 12.69 30.12 32.75

Annex D: Residual life of those parts of the trunk road network classified as condition red in 2005
Region <0 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 >19
London 15.93 12.18 17.27 13.79 16.60 24.23
Southern 5.97 7.51 11.63 9.27 28.25 37.37
Midland 10.73 10.56 13.67 15.77 15.70 33.57
Northern 6.16 5.68 12.01 14.26 15.48 46.41

Annex E: Residual life of those parts of the trunk road network classified as condition orange in 2015
Region <0 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 >19
London 0.00 46.97 21.21 10.61 4.55 16.66
Southern 3.77 5.03 8.16 11.58 27.97 43.49
Midland 6.12 7.89 9.12 11.68 18.62 46.57
Northern 10.74 8.66 11.36 12.76 21.98 34.50

for an indeterminate period—generally some years—but with the expectation of increasing levels of minor repair works.

The condition of the trunk road network is good, the percentage of the motorway network having less than zero residual life being only 3.9 per cent. and for all-purpose trunk roads only 7.3 per cent. These percentages are within the target of 7 to 8 per cent. set by the PAC in 1991 to be achieved by the year 2000 and demonstrate the success of recent investment in the national network.

The same concept of defining residual life cannot be applied to bridges or other structures. They have much longer nominal lives before strengthening may be required and the deterioration process is quite different.

The following six tables indicate the residual life by region in 1995 of those parts of the road network classified as orange or red based on high growth forecasts for traffic levels.

Annex F: Residual life of those parts of the trunk road network classified as condition red in 2015
Region <0 0–4 5–9 10–14 15–19 >19
London 16.33 11.77 16.79 16.42 14.96 23.73
Southern 6.10 8.63 12.02 11.74 24.29 37.22
Midland 7.88 11.92 14.42 14.83 15.67 35.28
Northern 4.03 6.60 11.51 13.06 27.79 37.01

Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish by region the maintenance planned by the Highways Agency for those parts of the trunk road network in England, including bridges, classified as condition orange and condition red for traffic congestion according to the maps produced by the national roads network assessment system for(a) 1995, (b) 2005 and (c) 2015. [17705]

Mr. Watts

[holding answer 26 February 1997]: The Highways Agency's plans for future maintenance of the trunk road network have not yet been finalised.

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