§ Mr. GoodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (1) whether the pavement condition assessment618W undertaken by the Highways Agency at Hendy Cross junction has been completed; and when it will be published; [58620]
(2) whether the geotechnical investigation undertaken by the Highways Agency at Hendy Cross junction has been completed; and when it will be published; [58619]
(3) whether a pre-order exhibition concerning the Hendy Cross junction will be held in High Wycombe in the autumn; [58669]
(4) when he will publish the environmental statement in relation to the Hendy Cross junction; [58618]
(5) when he will publish statutory orders under the Highways Act 1980 in relation to the Hendy Cross junction; [58617]
(6) whether the Highways Agency has decided to use an early design and build contract for construction of the improvements at Hendy Cross junction; [58627]
(7) whether short-term improvements to Hendy Cross junction are complete. [58616]
§ Mr. JamiesonI have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Tim Matthews, to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Kevin Davies to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 24 May 2002:
I have been asked by the Transport Minister, David Jamieson, to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about the long-term improvements to the M40/A404 Handy Cross Junction. I am replying in the absence of Tim Matthews, the Chief Executive who is currently on leave.The Highways Agency has undertaken considerable work since the publication of the Integrated Transport Study in January 2001. The short-term improvements identified in the study have been substantially completed and we have also completed a validation of the long-term proposals including further preliminary design work. To assist in this validation we have collected more detailed information on traffic movements through the junction together with pavement condition assessment and geotechnical investigations. The results of these investigations would not normally be published at this stage because they are working documents.It is too early to outline the future programme for this work, or to state how it would be processed. However, we would consider the advantages of appointing a contractor under our Early Design and Build Contract. We would want to see what innovations a contractor can bring to the scheme in terms of both design and construction techniques before publishing the draft orders. Following the appointment of a contractor a pre draft Orders exhibition would be held. This would then be followed by publication of the Environmental Statement and draft Orders.If you would like to discuss this further please contact the Agency's Project Sponsor, Andy Finch. He can be contacted at our Dorking office on 01306 878342.