§ Mr. Cantasked the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to make a statement concerning the criteria to be applied when deciding whether to reduce the design standards of proposed new motorways and other trunk roads.
§ Mr. HoramThe standards adopted are chosen with regard to the importance of the route, its location, the ease or difficulty of subsequent widening, the economics of construction and of foreseen traffic operation and any other relevant factors. As any of these elements is seen to change during the preparation of a scheme so the standards are reviewed.
§ Mr. Cantasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list new motorway and other trunk road schemes in regard to which decisions have been taken to change the design standards by reducing the proposed numbers of lanes on each carriageway or by deciding to construct a single-carriageway road instead of a dual-carriageway road.
§ Mr. HoramThe most notable examples are mentioned in paragraph 74 of the White Paper on Policy for Roads: England 1978 (Cmnd. 7132).