§ Sir Clive Bossomasked the Minister of Transport whether in view of the number of fatal accidents on the motorways in January, he will reconsider his policy on the provision of crash barriers during the construction of motorways.
§ Mr. MarshI do not think that the recent highly publicised accidents on M.1 provide good reason for altering my present policy on the use of crash barriers on new motorways. There is no evidence that any of these would have been prevented by a barrier.
§ Sir Clive Bossomasked the Minister of Transport whether the anti-crash barriers to be constructed on future motorways will be of the corrugated tension beam type.
§ Mr. MarshThe corrugated tension beam type developed by the Road Research Laboratory has been throughly tested and approved. This type will continue to be used where required but this does not preclude changes which may result from experience and developments.
§ Sir Clive Bossomasked the Minister of Transport if he will list the new selected lengths of crash barriers which he is planning to construct on motorways.
§ Mr. MarshApprovals to date are:
Existing Motorways
Ml. From M1/M10 junction northwards for approximately 1,500 yards.M4. London Airport Spur westwards for approximately 8 miles.Proposed Motorways
M23. From "C" ring in Greater London southwards for approximately 11½ miles.M5. Quinton to Ray Hall approximately 10½ miles.M6. A.454 intersection at Walsall to Castle Bromwich approximately 12½ miles.Further proposals will be approved where motorways are provided with central lighting columns or in consequence 166W of reviews being made due either to traffic growth or changes in the criteria for safety fences.