§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he intends to incorporate a new Haddington bypass to his plans to extend the Al dual carriageway from Tranent to Haddington; and if he will make a statement on the timetable for this project.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 25 June 1990]: Following the routes south of Edinburgh report on public consultation and the Government's decisions published in April, consultants are to be appointed to assess the feasibility of the various dualling options between Bankton (near Tranent) and Dunbar. The Government have concluded that the dualling of the section between Bankton and Haddington should be brought forward in the shorter term.
It is intended that the terminal point for the dualling to Haddington will be to the west of the town and it is envisaged that a new junction will be constructed at this location to cater for the very substantial flow to Haddington itself. It is estimated the total flow on the Al will drop by one third at this point. At Haddington, several options will be available for the route of a dual carriageway and these will have to be considered so that a robust decision can be taken on the precise junction location west of the town. For this reason, the first report to be submitted under the feasibility study will include recommendations for both the section from Bankton to Haddington and the Haddington bypass. This report is programmed for completion by summer 1991, and it is not possible to give specific details on the termination of the initial dualling and the phasing of the bypass until the detailed engineering and economic evaluations are concluded. However, it is the intention to complete the necessary preparatory work to allow a start of the dualling by the mid-1990s.