§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department made of the need to widen major roads into and out of Heathrow, in the event of a third runway at Heathrow being built.[145447]
§ Mr. McNultyThe South East and East of England Regional Air Services Study (SERAS) included an assessment of the road and rail infrastructure enhancements that would be needed to support a third runway at Heathrow. The results of this appraisal were summarised in Chapter 7 of "The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: South East" consultation document.
The White Paper, "The Future of Air Transport", recognised that the further expansion of Heathrow will place pressure on already congested road and rail networks. It stated that the Government have no plans for further motorway widening in this area beyond that which we announced in our response to the Thames Valley and Orbit multi-modal studies in July 2003, and that the solution would need to be based on improvements to public transport.