§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has had made of whether the A92 north of Dundee to Arbroath and Montrose fulfils the requirements set out in paragraph 2.1 of "Shaping the Trunk Road Network" in respect of industry, agriculture, tourism and access to ports; and if he will make a statement. [36406]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe intention of "Shaping the Trunk Road Network" was to provide the road user with a coherent and continuous system of routes serving destinations of importance to industry, commerce, agriculture and tourism. It also sought to define nationally important routes which will be developed in line with strategic national transport demands while ensuring that those roads which are of predominantly local importance are managed locally. The Government's decision on who should manage a particular road related not only to the volume of traffic on that road but to the nature of that traffic and where the economic benefit derived from that traffic fell. Although there is heavy traffic on the A92 near Dundee, the majority of trips on this road are local in nature. On this basis, the Government decided that, in national strategic terms, the route north from Dundee to Aberdeen is best served by the recently upgraded A90, while the A92, having greater importance locally, should remain under local management.
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average daily traffic flow on each 10-mile section of the A92 between Dundee and Arbroath and Montrose; what percentage of traffic consisted of heavy 317W goods vehicles; what was the average journey time between Dundee and Arbroath at peak times; and what was the accident rate in the years (a) 1993–1994 and (b) 1994–1995. [36410]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonTraffic data on the Scottish road traffic database are stored by "link" rather than on a "mile by mile" basis. It is therefore not possible to list these data in 10-mile sections. Information on the annual average daily flow and percentage of heavy goods vehicles by each such "link" for 1994 is set out in the table:
Link number Length (km) AADF (number of vehicles) Percentage of HGV From Dundee 254005 5.9 11,561 11 254010 6.4 9,176 13 245015 7.2 9,439 10 To Arbroath 254020 0.9 9,357 10 From Arbroath 254030 0.5 10,351 6 254035 9.3 5,089 11 254040 8.4 4,834 13 254045 1.1 7,459 11 254050 2.3 11,764 10 To Montrose 254055 0.55 10,599 7 The Scottish Office national roads directorate has no information on the average journey time between Dundee and Arbroath at peak times.
It is not possible to provide information on the accident rate—accidents per 1 million vehicle kilometres—as such data for local roads are not stored on a link basis and is therefore not consistent with that held by The Scottish Office to trunk roads. Information on the number of accidents on the A92 from Dundee to Montrose is stored by calendar year and is set out in the following table:
Accident Severity Road Section Year Fatal Serious Slight Total Claypotts, Dundee to 1993 2 6 21 29 Arbroath town centre 1994 1 5 19 25 Arbroath town centre to 1993 1 10 9 20 Ferryden, Montrose 1994 1 7 15 23
§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish details and costings of feasibility studies for section of the A92, including(a) junctions leading to Monifieth and Carnoustie, (b) bypasses at Muirdrum and Marywell, (c) the Montrose bridge, (d) the bridge over the north Esk and (e) trunk road spurs leading to Arbroath and Montrose. [36411]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe Scottish Office national roads directorate has carried out no such feasibility studies on the A92. The section of the A92 from the roundabout with the A972 Kingsway east in Dundee to the junction with the A90 at the south end of the Stonehaven bypass is a local road and the responsibility for improvements rests with the local roads authorities.