§ Mr. Cadburyasked the Minister of Transport if he is able to announce his decision on the status and standard of the Waterstock to Warwick section of the Oxford-to-Birmingham route.
§ Mr. FowlerI have decided to prepare plans for a new road built to motorway standards. The road will be built as a dual three-lane motorway, except for a two lane section between Waterstock and Wendlebury.
This road will provide a fast and efficient link for the high volume of industrial traffic between the West Midlands and London. It will be an important alternative to the Ml which is now very heavily loaded and requires a programme of major maintenance work over the next few years. This section of the M40 will also be one of the last links in the route between Southampton and the industry of the West Midlands, and indeed of the North-East and North-West. As well as being a major link to the South Coast ports, the new road will take heavy through traffic out of many villages and small towns such as Banbury which now act as a junction for all the lorries heading for Southampton from the industrial centres. I also hope that this road will attract traffic away from the routes through the Cotswold villages and Warwickshire beauty spots like Henley-in-Arden.
Preparation will now go ahead on the detailed planning and design work for the motorway so that statutory proposals can be published.