§ 40. Mr. McKelveyTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the rate of progress of upgrading Scottish roads.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe upgrading of the Scottish road network is progressing well. Particularly rapid progress continues to be made on our 1987 manifesto commitment to upgrade the A74 to motorway standard. Three sections of the route are now under construction and further sections will follow as resources and completion of statutory procedures allow.
Another of our priorities is the early completion of the central Scotland motorway network. Further extensions to the existing M74, M8 and M80 are planned over the next few years. Indeed, advance works are soon to commence on the northward extension of the existing M74 towards Glasgow with main works following on next year.
As well as these important additions to Scotland's motorway network, improvements will continue to be made on strategic trunk routes as well as other localised but worthwhile projects.
The significant increase in motorway and trunk road funding in recent years is evidence of the Government's commitment to the provision of the best possible trunk road network to serve Scotland in the latter half of the nineties and into the next century.