§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) whether he is yet in a position to authorise the local roads authority to make progress on any significant road improvement schemes on the A7 trunk route south of Hawick; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what progress has been made to date on the possibility of improving the A7 trunk route south of Hawick at Colterscleuch; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton[holding answer 19 February 1992]: The work undertaken by the A7 management group, in their second interim report, has allowed the identification of sites at Colterscleuch and between Mosspeeble and Bush as presenting opportunities for the creation of new high quality overtaking sections. Borders regional council and Dumfries and Galloway regional council have therefore been commissioned to carry out design work on two "convoy buster" schemes on the A7 at these sites. These schemes will provide important overtaking opportunities for drivers who can find themselves stuck in convoys for some miles on sections of this route even though traffic is light. The schemes should ease hold-ups, relieve driver frustration and reduce the temptation for reckless overtaking on the road between Hawick and the English border. This design work will start in advance of the conclusion of the full study. Approval for the construction phase will be considered as soon as the design and any necessary statutory procedures and land acquisition have been completed.
"Convoy busting" schemes such as the two to be designed for the A7 are being developed on a number of Scottish long-distance single carriageway trunk roads as a means of securing real and rapid improvements for drivers on lightly trafficked routes without the inevitable delay and costs associated with complete re-engineering of a route. In many cases wholesale re-engineering cannot be justified given the high cost and limited traffic.
Excellent progress has also been made in implementing accident remedial measures at ten locations between Hawick and the Border since our proposals were set out in the A7 pamphlet published last year. I look forward to the completion of this work during the current financial year.
I am confident that these measures will bring direct benefits to many drivers through improved journey times and safer driving conditions.
§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to improve the collection 283W of information on road traffic accidents which are occurring on the A7 trunk route between Hawick and Langholm and which are not being reported; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonInformation on all injury road accidents reported to the police is provided to the Scottish Office as part of a Great Britain wide system on a report form called stat 19. Damage-only accidents do not have to be reported to the police by drivers and information on them is not therefore collected by the Scottish office. There is no intention of changing this position either for all Scotland or for the A7.