§ Mr. Bostonasked the Minister of Transport (1) if he will set out in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of the repairs and maintenance carried out on the M.1 since it was first opened, giving the dates and cost of each major repair project and the total cost of maintenance and repair year by year;
(2) if he will give his estimate of the cost of repairs and maintenance to the M.1 for each of the next five years.
§ Mr. Tom FraserMaintenance of motorways includes snow clearing, salting, cleaning, grass cutting, hedge trimming and minor repairs. It is not readily possible to give separate costs for each individual item of work.
Further, major repair works are in practice normally undertaken simultaneously with improvement works as part of the same contract; it is, therefore, difficult to arrive at an exact figure for repairs only. The repair element included in contracts carried out on M.1 since it was first opened is approximately as follows:
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Year of Commencement County Approximate cost of each major repair included in contract £ 1962 Bedfordshire 180,000 1963 Bedfordshire 205,000 1964 Northamptonshire 80,000 Northamptonshire 115,000 Buckinghamshire 50,000 Hertfordshire 30,000 The costs were not all necessarily incurred in the year of commencement.
These projects covered any necessary replacement and strengthening of the base and renewal of the surfacing of the carriageway.
The total cost of maintenance and repair year by year is as follows:
£ 1959–60 … … 45,000 1960–61 … … 71,000 1961–62 … … 197,000 1962–63 … … 336,000 1963–64 … … 204,000 1964–65 … … 595,000 (estimated) The estimated cost of repairs and maintenance for each of the next five years is:
£ 1965–66 … … 730,000 1966–67 … … 675,000 1967–68 … … 182,500 1968–69 … … 182,500 1969–70 … … 182,500 The approximate amount allocated within these totals for maintenance and minor improvement is £2,500 per mile annually, but I must emphasise that it is difficult to separate completely repair work and maintenance.
§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Minister of Transport if he will state the cost to the latest available date of repairs to each lane separately of the M.1 from London to Birmingham.
§ Mr. Tom FraserThe approximate cost of repairs to both carriageways up to 31st March, 1965, was £675,000. Of this about 15 per cent. was spent on the middle lanes and 2 per cent. on the fast lanes. More precise figures are not available. An element of improvement is included in these repairs.