§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he expects(a) the M5 at Whittington and (b) the A46 at Harvington to be resurfaced with low noise surfaces; and if he will make a statement. [5775]
§ Mr. JamiesonI have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Tim Matthews to Mr. Peter Luff, dated 20 July 2001:
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, David Jamieson, has asked me to reply to your recent question about resurfacing the M5 at Whittington and the A46 at Harvington with low noise surfaces.The Government's 10 Year Plan for Transport set out proposals for dealing with road noise, including the provision of quieter surfacing on the road network.The resurfacing programme for roads, like those at Whittington and Harvington, with bituminous surfaces will depend largely on when the existing surfaces wear out and need to be replaced as part of our normal maintenance programme. Given that the condition of the carriageways here is fairly good it is likely to be at least three years before the work will take place.534WIf you would like any additional information please contact Tom Barry at our Birmingham office. He can be contacted at Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1BL or by telephone on 0121 678 8072.