§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will list all dual carriageway schemes approved on the Al between Newcastle and the Scottish border since 1992, indicating the location, the estimated start and completion dates and the value of the contract involved; [5541]
(2) if he will make a statement on his current policy on the proposed upgrading of the A1 to dual carriageway standard between Newcastle and the Scottish border; and what dual carriageway improvements are currently under consideration on the A1 between Newcastle and the Scottish border. [5542]
§ Mr. WattsI toured this section of the A1 in July of this year. The Marshall Meadow, tender cost £2.18 million, and Brownieside—£3.49 million—improvement schemes were completed in 1993. The Willowburn-Denwick improvement remains in the programme.
In addition to these major schemes, a comprehensive programme of low cost safety schemes has been undertaken over the last few years. We continue to assess the needs of the route to identify sections where further improvements including sections of dual carriageway to provide safer opportunities for overtaking could be taken forward.