§ Mr. Arthur Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether, in his "Policy for Roads: England 1978" Command 7132, he has given consideration to the introduction of recommended and mandatory routing for large and heavy commercial vehicles, having regard to the damages resulting from their use of unsuitable roads and the environmental problems to which they give rise in these circumstances.
§ Mr. William RodgersThe new White Paper on roads policy emphasises that the priorities for the road programme will give special weight to vital industrial routes and to dealing with those parts of the trunk road network where the problems of congestion and environmental damage are most severe.
Last year's Transport Policy White Paper explained that the Government had concluded that a national system of mandatory lorry routes would not be a practical proposition for some time. However, my Department's long-standing advice is that lorries should, as far as possible, keep to the motorway and primary route network—the roads with the blue and green-backed signs. Local authorities are encouraged to make full use of their extensive powers to regulate lorry traffic to keep it away from unsuitable roads and environmentally sensitive areas, where better alternative routes are available.