§ 71. Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Transport what is the estimated mileage of additional trunk roads which will be brought into use this year; what is the estimated mileage for each of the next three years; and to what extent he is satisfied that trunk roads are not at present being subjected to loads beyond their designed capacity.
§ Mr. MarplesWe estimate that about 70 miles of new and reconstructed trunk road (excluding motorways) will be brought into use this financial year and that about 55 miles will be brought into use in 1965–66. It would be misleading to attempt to give estimates for each of the years 1966–67 and 1967–68, since the mileage for each year will depend upon the dates on which particular road works are started between now and then. A variation in the starting dates of only a few months for some of the schemes would make a significant difference to the respective mileages brought into use during these two years.
We know that while much of the trunk road system has been modernised there are still many sections which are carrying 112W heavier volumes of traffic than they are designed for. We are continuing in our trunk road improvement programme to deal with what remains to be done on a priority basis.