§ Viscount CURZONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether he is aware that Saint Paul's Churchyard, Queen Victoria Street, Cheapside, Farringdon Street, Great Tower Street, Eastcheap, Upper Thames Street, Whitefriars, Bouverie Street, Parliament Street, Whitehall, Pall Mall, Oxford Street, Edgware Road, Charing Cross Road, Cambridge Circus, Kings-way, Park Street, Southampton Row, and Upper Brook Street, are all either being repaired or are shortly to be repaired; that these repairs will cause the most grave and serious congestion to traffic, and consequent loss and inconvenience to the citizens of London, unless the repairs are completed in the very shortest possible time and the most modern methods employed, and unless the simultaneous closing of parallel arteries of traffic can be avoided; and whether, in view of the constantly increasing volume of traffic, he will state what action the Government propose to take to deal with this question?
§ Colonel ASHLEYApart from those within the City of London, I am aware that the road repairs mentioned in the first part of the question are either in progress or are shortly to be put in hand. I understand that the surveyors of adjoining metropolitan boroughs make a practice of consulting with each other in the matter of the more extensive road repairs within their areas, and I am sure they are fully seized of the importance of speed in the execution of the works and of keeping open so far as possible alternative routes. In reply to the last part of the question, as I have already informed the Noble Lord, within the narrow limitation of my present powers and staff, I am doing all I can to promote the co-operation of local authorities with a view to mitigating the inconvenience caused by road repairs.