§ Mr. William. RossTo ask the Secretary of Stale for Scotland what sums he intends to spend on road improvements between Stranraer and Dumfries over the next three years; and when he expects the remainder of that road to have been improved.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonAs is customary, my right hon. Friend will shortly be announcing those major trunk road schemes on which, subject to completion of statutory procedures and available resources, it is intended to commence construction next year and, provisionally, in the subsequent two years. In recent years more than £85 million has been spent on schemes to improve the A75, including a number of bypass schemes to relieve communities along the route. The recent review of Scotland's key roads confirmed that these improvements have substantially eliminated the operating difficulties on the route.
§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of the number of vehicles in each different category counted by his Department using the Stranraer-Dumfries road at maximum, minimum and
Table 1 A75 Carsluith Month Pedal cycles Motor cycles Cars Buses LGV HGV All vehicles January 0 1 1,979 16 212 689 2,897 February 0 2 2,149 17 251 802 3,221 March 0 2 2,258 19 275 903 3,457 April 0 4 3,027 30 329 961 4,351 May 0 7 3,052 29 315 867 4,242 June 0 7 3,365 37 399 871 4,679 July 0 8 4,080 49 495 813 5,445 August 0 9 4,472 41 477 826 5,825 September 0 5 3,475 39 384 951 4,854 October 0 3 2,967 27 320 929 4,246 November 0 2 2,181 21 280 920 3,404 December 0 3 2,207 20 253 821 3,304 Annual average daily flow 0 5 3,001 30 340 866 4,241
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Table 2 A75 Castle Douglas Month Pedal cycles Motor cycles Cars Buses LGV HGV All vehicles January 0 10 4,147 17 376 948 5,498 February 0 8 4,483 19 420 1,062 5,992 March 0 7 4,585 20 476 1,172 6,260 April 0 7 5,382 31 517 1,117 7,054 May 0 6 5,126 33 546 1,075 6,786 June 0 10 5,867 37 688 1,282 7,884 June — — — — — — — August 0 9 6,274 40 713 1,149 8,185 September 0 10 5,876 38 648 1,310 7,882 October 0 10 5,392 28 536 1,224 7,190 November 0 16 4,423 19 480 1,197 6,135 December 0 14 4,632 21 416 1,062 6,145 Annual average daily flow 0 10 4,877 29 513 1,135 6,563 average flows; what is his estimate of the average speed of vehicles on that road; and what were the figures five and 10 years ago.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonAutomatic traffic counters on the A75 located at Carsluith and Castle Douglas have been used to obtain an estimate of the maximum, minimum and average annual traffic flows in 1993. The traffic flows obtained are indicated in tables 1 and 2.
Table 1, Carsluith, shows that the maximum annual two-way daily flow occurs in August and is 5,825, the minimum daily flow is in January and is 2,897 with an average annual daily flow for this site of 4,241.
Table 2, Castle Douglas, shows that the maximum annual two-way daily flow occurs in August and is 8,185, the minimum daily flow is in January, 5,498, with an average annual daily flow for this site of 6,563.
Information regarding traffic speeds has been obtained from the A75 Carsluith site. This information was retrieved on 28 February and 2 March 1994 and is summarised in table 3. Speed data was not available for five or 10 years ago.
An analysis of the historic traffic flows on the A75 between Stranraer and Dumfries has been carried out. Tables 4, 5, 6 and 7 show how traffic volumes have changes over the period from 1982 to 1992 at various locations along the route. In summary during the period 1982 to 1992 traffic volumes increased by between 18 per cent. and 30 per cent. depending on location.
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Table 3 Vehicle Type Average speed km/hr Motor cycles 75 Cars 97 LGV 93 HGV 84 Bus 85 All vehicles 87
Table 4: Census Point Location DTP10745 A.75 2.8 km south east of A751 CP Number DTP10745 DTP10745 Route A0075 A0075 Year 1982 1992 Pedal cycles 30 7 Motor cyles 25 7 Cars 2,500 2,987 Buses 50 54 LGV 400 408 HGV 400 624 All vehicles 3,300 4,080
CP Number DTP10745 Route A0075 Year 1987 All vehicles 3,347 Traffic Growth (per cent.) 1982–1987 1
1982 to 1992 difference in traffic (per cent.) CP Number DTP10745 Route A0075 Year 1992 Pedal cycles -23 TWMV -18 Cars 487 Buses 4 LGV 8 HGV 224 All vehicles 780 Traffic Growth (per cent.) 1982–1992 19
Table 5 Census point location: DTP20749, A75, 600m west of B733 CP Number DTP20749 DTP20749 Route A0075 A0075 Year 1982 1992 Pedal Cycles 0 15 Motor Cycles 61 53 Cars 1,825 2,353 Buses 30 38 LGV 283 453 HGV 691 611 All vehicles 2,890 3,508
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CP Number DTP20749 Route A0075 Year 1987 All vehicles 3,466 Traffic growth 1982–87 (per cent.) 17
1982 to 1992 difference in Traffic CP Number DTP20749 Route A0075 Year 1992 PC 15 TWMV -8 Cars 528 Buses 8 LGV 170 HGV -80 All vehicles 618 Traffic growth 1982–92 (per cent.) 18
Table 6 Census point location: DTP00740, A75, 1.5km south west of A71 Number CP number DTP00740 DTP00740 Route A0075 A0075 Year 1982 1992 Pedal cycles 0 3 Motor cycles 32 14 Cars 2,061 3,432 Buses 34 29 LGV 287 334 HGV 638 560 All vehicles 3,052 4,369
Number CP number DTP00740 Route A0075 Year 1987 All vehicles 3,326 Traffic growth percentage 1982–87 8
1982 to 1992 difference in traffic Number CP number DTP00740 Route A0075 Year 1992 PC 3 TWMV -18 Cars 1,371 Buses -5 LGV 47 HGV -78 All vehicles 1,317 Traffic growth percentage 1982–92 30
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Table 7 Census Point Location DTP10740—A75 2.4 km north east ofA712 Route, year and vehicle DTP10740 DTP10740 Route A0075 A0075 Year 1982 1992 Pedal Cycles 4 0 Motor Cycles 25 9 Cars 3,223 4,684 Buses 55 46 Light Goods Vehicle 427 746 Heavy Goods Vehicle 807 536 All Vehicles 4,537 6,021
Traffic Growth Route, year, vehicle and percentage growth DTP10740 Route A0075 Year 1987 All Vehicles 5,079 1982–1987 (per cent.) 11
1982 to 1992 Difference in Traffic Route, year, vehicle and percentage difference DTP10740 Route A0075 Year 1992 Pedal Cycles -4 TW Motor Vehicle -16 Cars 1,461 Buses -9 Light Goods Vehicle 319 Heavy Goods Vehicle 271 All Vehicles 1,484 1982–1992 (per cent.) 25