§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total annual expenditure on motorway construction in Cheshire in each of the years since 1974.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI regret that records of expenditure on the national roads programme, where schemes cross county boundaries, is not broken down to county level.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total projected annual expenditure for new road construction in Cheshire over the next five years.
§ Mrs. ChalkerProjected annual expenditure for trunk roads is planned on a national basis rather than by county. Current cost estimates and likely start dates of all major trunk road schemes are given in the White Paper "Policy for Roads in England: 1983" (Cmnd. 9059). Spending on local authority roads in Cheshire is the responsibility of Cheshire county council.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total mileage of new roads opened in Cheshire in each of the years since 1974 in each of the following categories: (a) trunk motorways, (b) other trunk roads, (c) local authority motorways, (d) other principal roads and (e) other roads.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerThe information requested on(a) and (b) is as follows:
Miles opened Trunk Motorways Other Trunk Roads 1974 9 — 1975 6 — 1976 — 6 1977 — 2 1978 — — 1979 — — 1980 — — 1981 7 — 1982 3 — 1983 — — The Department does not have information on the mileages of local authority roads opened. These are the responsibility of Cheshire county council.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total annual expenditure on motorway construction in each of the years since 1974.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe information for trunk road motorways in England is as follows:
Works cost only £ million (outturn) 1974–75 120 1975–76 154 1976–77 126 1977–78 103 1978–79 117 1979–80 129 1980–81 127 1981–82 171 1982–83 240 * 1983–84 247 * Provisional.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the average cost per mile for motorway construction in each of the years since 1974.
§ Mrs. ChalkerMotorway construction costs vary significantly depending on the standard and location of the road concerned. The following figures represent very broad average works costs at outturn prices by type of motorway. Additional associated costs such as land acquisition may add between 20 per cent, and 25 per cent, to these figures.
£ million Year Rural dual 3-lane Rural dual 2-lane Urban dual 3-lane Urban dual 2-lane 1974 2 1 5 4 1975 2 1 5 4 1976 2 1 5 4 1977 3 2 6 4 1978 3 2 7 5 1979 4 2 9 7 1980 5 3 12 9 1981 5 3 11 8 1982 5 3 11 8 *1983 5 3 11 8 * Provisional.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total mileage of new roads 339W opened in each of the years since 1974 in each of the following categories: (a) trunk motorways, (b) other trunk roads, (c) local authority motorways, (d) other principal roads and (e) other roads.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe information requested on(a) and (b) is as follows:
Trunk motorways (miles opened) Other trunk roads (miles opened) 1974 69 55 1975 102 90 1976 74 95 1977 51 103 1978 31 60 1979 41 35 1980 40 46 1981 30 53 1982 17 38 1983 40 47 I regret that information on lengths of local authority roads opened is not collected by my Department.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total mileage of new roads projected to be completed in Cheshire in each of the next 10 years in each of the following categories: (a) trunk motorways, (b) other trunk roads, (c) local authority motorways, (d) other principal roads and (e) other roads.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThere are no plans for new trunk motorways in Cheshire at present. 1.3 miles of new trunk road are expected to be completed this financial year; figures for later years are not available, since completion dates will depend upon the availability of funds and the progress of statutory and other procedures. A list of major schemes in preparation is given in the White Paper 'Policy for Roads in England: 1983' [Cmnd. 9059], and this includes some 27 miles of new trunk road in Cheshire. Other roads are the responsibility of Cheshire county council.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total projected annual expenditure for new motorway construction in Cheshire in each of the next five years.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThere are at present no schemes in the roads programme to add to Cheshire's existing motorway network. We did, however, announce in the 1983 Roads White Paper [Cmnd. 9059] our intention to undertake a study of long-term/capacity of the M6 and M62 in the county, and consultants will be appointed shortly to carry out such a study and make recommendations.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total projected annual expenditure for new road construction in each of the next five years.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe Government publish their spending plans for only three years ahead. Cmnd. 9143 contains the following total planning figures for all expenditure on motorways and trunk roads in England:
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£ million 1984–85 805 1985–86 830 1986–87 870 Of the £805 million provision voted for the current financial year, £476 million is for new construction. Planned provision for new construction in future years is not separately identified. Cmnd. 9143 also gives planning totals for local transport capital expenditure in the period 1984–85 to 1986–87.