Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What plans they have to widen parts of the A34 between Winchester and the junction with the M40 north of Oxford. [HL1774]
§ Lord Davies of OldhamThere are no plans to widen the A34 between Winchester and the M40. A study is in progress to assess major transport issues in the corridor and the work needed to establish solutions across all modes. Also a draft route management strategy for the A34 has resulted in suggestions that climbing lanes should be provided.
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Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the range of traffic flows of lorries on the most congested section of the A34 (a) for the most congested hour; and (b) averaged over 24 hours. [HL1775]
§ Lord Davies of OldhamOn the basis of traffic data collected in 2002, the last year for which figures are readily available, the most heavily trafficked and congested section of the A34 is the section from Didcot, round Oxford, and up to the M40. The highest flow for lorries was between 1300 and 1400 hours on the link approaching M40 (junction 9) where there were 750 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) in total, two-way. Over the whole section, the range of lorry flows for the most congested hour was between 600 and 750 (HGVs), two-way, representing around 13 per cent of total traffic.
Traffic flows for HGVs over a 24-hour period are recorded in a category covering all vehicles over 5.2 metres in length, the majority being HGVs. The average figure for this category on the most congested section of the A34 given above was 520 vehicles per hour. This represent around 19 per cent of total traffic for that 24-hour period.