§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when the proposal of a link road between a new junction 18a on the M4 and the Avon Ring Road was(a) first included and (b) removed from the Government's trunk road programme. [138229]
§ Mr. HillThe proposal for a new link road and a new junction on the M4 was first put forward by the former Avon County Council in 1985. This was accepted in principle by the then Department of Transport, but was never included in the Government's trunk road programme.
Responsibility for the scheme passed to South Gloucestershire Council, following local government reorganisation. The Council subsequently carried out a review of a number of major road schemes in their area in the context of current Government transport policy and emerging development plan policies. As a result, they decided in 1999 not to pursue this particular scheme.