§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on his plans for upgrading the Al road in Scotland, giving the timetable for construction and completion of each section and the estimated costs.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe Government consider that it would be desirable for the A 1 to be dualled over its full length in Scotland. Work is currently under way on the £1.6 million dualling scheme at Marshall Meadows which will tie into a Department of Transport improvement at the national border. This scheme will be completed during the summer. The major route priority is the construction of a dual carriageway from Tranent to Haddington. Draft orders for this scheme were published on 30 March and, subject to the satisfactory completion of statutory procedures, construction of this £33 million scheme will commence in 1994–95. The preparation of the Haddington-Dunbar scheme, which is also estimated to cost in excess of £30 million, is following the earlier scheme at an interval of about 12 months.
Between Dunbar and the Border, some six further dualling schemes are being prepared along the route for early construction. Subject to satisfactory completion of the necessary procedures, up to three of these should start this financial year with the remainder planned to follow in the current public expenditure period. The schemes are:
£ million Cement Works-Innerwick 2.6 Tower-Penmanshiel 1.5 Howburn-Lemington 2.1 Thistly Cross-Broxburn 4.4 Broxburn-Cement Works 1.75 Houndwood-Howburn 1.75 In addition to the above, local schemes to provide early safety and operational improvements on the route will continue to be brought forward.
588WThe timing of all the above schemes will be dependent on the completion of the necessary preparatory work and statutory procedures and, for the later schemes, the availability of finance.
Further schemes will be identified and constructed as they compete for, and find, places in future programmes.