Mr. Latham askedthe Secretary of State for Transport in which year, under present plans, it will be possible to drive from London to Leicestershire or vice versa, on the M1 motorway without encountering major roadworks, other than in response to currently unforeseen emergencies; and what steps are being taken to expedite the current programme of major works.
§ Mrs. ChalkerHeavily used roads require periodic resurfacing and strengthening. There is a five-year programme designed to maintain the structure and surface of motorways whilst keeping disruption to a minimum. Major roadworks are planned to take place on the M1 between London and Leicester during each of the coming five years. An accelerated programme of works would reduce safety and increase congestion.
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§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Transport when the roadworks on the northbound carriageway of the MI motorway between junctions 13 and 14 will be completed; and whether, in the light of the covering up on 2 November of his Department's official notice that delays were possible until October, they are proceeding in accordance with the planned schedule.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe works were completed on 5 November.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will give details of the unsatisfactory materials which were used for reconstruction work on the M1 motorway between junctions 15 and 16 in 1982; what claims for compensation have been lodged by his Department; and what was the cost to public funds of (a) the original work and (b) the subsequent resurfacing.
§ Mrs. ChalkerCertain sections of the surfacing did not meet the Department's specification. Remedial work was carried out by the contractor at no cost to public funds. The original work formed part of an £8.3 million contract.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Transport why the carriage overlay work on the M1 motorway between junctions 12 and 13 in 1981 was not of sufficient structural strength to avoid repetition of the work in 1985; and what is the normal anticipated lifetime of such carriage during overlay work.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe work in 1981 was experimental to see whether an overlay would prolong the life of the carriageway surface as effectively as reconstruction. The experiment showed that the depth of overlay was insufficient to provide the required design life of 15 years. The work planned for 1985 will bring the overlay on the test section up to the required structural strength.
§ Mr. Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will give details of the unsatisfactory material which was used for resurfacing slow lanes of the M1motorway between junctions 20 and 21 in 1978; what claims for compensation have been lodged by his Department; and what was the cost to public funds of (a) the original work and (b) the replacement work in 1981.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerThe surfacing work carried out between junctions 20 and 21 in 1978 was emergency work carried out to remedy excessive deformation of the slow lanes caused by wheel tracks of heavy vehicles following the long hot summer of 1976. To reduce danger to the travelling public the new surface was laid in the winter in adverse weather conditions.
The unsatisfactory material on some sections of the work was the consequence of an unusual specification and adverse weather, and gave rise to claims and counterclaims. The settled cost of the original work was approximately £360,000.
A 2½-mile section of the original work done in 1977–78 was patch-repaired later in 1978. The unpatched sections were subsequently affected by wheel tracking and rather than increase the number of patches with some lengths of the original suspect material still remaining the whole length was resurfaced to an improved specification in 1981 at a cost of £100,000.