HL Deb 19 October 1993 vol 549 cc44-5WA
Lord Trefgarne

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the number of occasions on which either carriageway of the M.4 motorway has been closed during the last twelve months, and what are the reasons for these closures.

The Earl of Caithness

In the 12-month period to 30th September this year, sections of one or other of the M.4 carriageways were closed for varying lengths of time on 56 occasions for the following planned purposes:

  • routine maintenance or re-surfacing
  • works in connection with road or bridge construction or re-construction (22)
  • major maintenance work (2)

Wherever possible we arrange for closures to take place overnight. The figures include 18 and 12 occasions, respectively, for routine maintenance of the dual two-lane section of motorway at the London end between Junctions 1 and 3, and of the Newport Tunnels in South Wales, where safety considerations require full closure of carriageways.

In addition, during the same period lengths of carriageway had to be closed on five occasions because of accidents, once because of high winds affecting the Severn Bridge, on four occasions for other emergencies which occurred.

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