§ Mr. Geoffrey Lloydasked the Minister of Transport in view of the increased containerised traffic from the West Midlands and the proposed location of container services from Port of Southampton, what priority he will give to the construction of the strategy road Birmingham to Southampton.
Mr. Bob BrownThis route is among those proposed for comprehensive improvement in the Green Paper "Roads for the Future". A project feasibility study is now being carried out to examine alternative lines for a new high grade road on the Birmingham-Oxford section of the route. South of Oxford several sections of the A34 and A33 have already been improved or are under construction; other schemes are in preparation. When assessing future priorities full account will he taken of the growth of container traffic between the Midlands and Southampton.
§ Mr. Geoffrey Lloydasked the Minister of Transport what plans he has to improve road communications in connection with the development of Southampton as a container port.
Mr. Bob BrownRoad schemes in Southampton and on the main trunk routes into the area take full account of the needs of container traffic. In addition to about £40 million of work recently completed or in hand, a further £35 million is programmed or in preparation in Southampton and on the routes between Southampton, the Midlands and London. Our longer-term plans are outlined in the Green Paper "Roads for the Future".