§ Mr. SpeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the additional expenditure schemes earmarked for Channel tunnel related roads in the county of Kent.
§ Mr. AtkinsFollowing are local road schemes, proposed by Kent county council in the context of the Channel tunnel, which my Department is supporting under the transport supplementary grant system with grant over and above that attracted by the county council's ordinary road building programme:
- A2070 Ashford South Orbital
- A2070 Beaver Road Diversion
- A2070 Hamstreet Bypass
- A2070 South Ashford to Hamstreet
- A2070 Stockbridge to Brenzett
234 - A256 Whitfield Bypass
- A256 Whitfield to Eastry
- A256 Eastry Bypass
- A260 Denton/Selsted Bypass
- A260 Densole/Hawkinge Bypass
Our very substantial trunk road programme in Kent, valued at about £678 million (November 1987 prices) would be necessary with or without a Channel tunnel.
§ Mr. SpeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the Channel tunnel working group's forecasts and report on traffic data and the effects of the Channel tunnel on traffic demand, together with the assumptions upon which they are based.
§ Mr. AtkinsI am making arrangements for copies of the Channel tunnel traffic working group's report, dated June 1986, to be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. SpeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies are being undertaken in his Department on estimating road traffic growth following the Channel tunnel opening in summer 1993.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe net extra traffic resulting from the completion of the Channel tunnel is not expected to be significant compared with forecast traffic growth generally. Therefore, no specific studies relating to the opening of the tunnel are planned. However, my Department has established the cross-Channel traffic group to produce an up-to-date estimate of all cross-Channel traffic in 1993 and beyond on the main road network in the south-east. General traffic growth will continue to be monitored in the normal way.