asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report the average total cost of constructing each mile of motorway, including urban motorways, in England in each of the last five years.

Construction costs vary widely depending on the nature of the terrain through which the motorway passes.Average cost per mile of motorways in each of the last five years at the prices then prevailing—that is, not adjusted for inflation—are:

Year	Dual 3 lane	Dual 2 lane
	£m	£m
1972	0·92	0·71
1973	1·31	0·93
1974	1·51	1·35
1975	2·50	1·93
1976	1·83	1·23

The schemes are generally rural with some of them containing an element of urban and although the design standards change for the differing locations it is not possible to segregate the construction costs within each individual scheme.