§ 30. Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the introduction of quieter motorway surfaces. [5599]
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§ Mr. JamiesonLast week we announced criteria for prioritising the surfacing of concrete trunk roads with quieter material. The four criteria that have been adopted are
Wherever possible the application of quieter surfaces will fit in with normal maintenance needs;Priority will be given to those sites where treatment would benefit the greatest number of people;Works will be carried out in such a way as to minimise disruption to general public and users of network;Priority will be given to roads, opened since June 1988, where actual noise levels have turned out to be significantly higher than predicted at the time of the Public Inquiry.The list of schemes that satisfy the first criterion and are planned for the following three years (2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05) together with those that are planned for 2001–02 were announced on 17 October 2001.
The Highways Agency is currently identifying additional schemes that satisfy the second and third criteria and could be added to this list. The Agency has also identified 17 roads with concrete surfaces that have been opened since June 1988 and has instigated a programme of noise surveys to identify those that satisfy the fourth criterion. The list of these 17 roads was also given in the announcement of 17 October.