§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give a broad outline of the two alternative schemes referred to in the answer of 9 November, Official Report, c. 138, together with the routes envisaged.
§ Mrs. Chalkerboth alternatives would include the Western relief road, about which the public were consulted by Bedfordshire county council last year. One would also include a southern bypass running near Eastcotts and Cardington and the other a route closer to Bedford. I cannot be more specific because our thinking is at a very early stage and I do not wish to cause unnecessary blight.
§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will seek from Bedfordshire county council the information necessary for the full assessment of the economic and environmental benefits of constructing bypasses of Bedford on the A6 and A428 in time for such bypasses to be included in the roads programme before the introduction of heavier lorries.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI hope to be able to consider these bypasses in next year's review of the roads programme. The Government's proposals for higher maximum gross weights for lorries will keep the number of lorry journeys to a minimum and thus help the environment even in towns which have not yet been bypassed. The regulations which have now been laid also include additional safety features for lorries and better controls over their dimensions.