asked the Secretary of State for Transport what factors led to the decision to authorise increased spending on trunk road other than motorway maintenance in 1981–82; and whether evidence from the 1981 national road maintenance condition survey was a contributory factor.
Expenditure of trunk road maintenance was reduced during 1980–81 to give priority to the motorway major repair programme. It was increased in 1981–82 to carry out repairs deferred from the previous year. Additional expenditure was also incurred on snowploughing and salting during the recent severe winter.Evidence from the 1981 national road maintenance condition survey was not a contributory factor in planning trunk road or any other maintenance expenditure in 1981–82. The results would not, in any case, have been available in time.
asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total value of schemes added to the trunk road programme since publication of "Policy for Roads England 1980", which schemes have been added; what stage of preparation has been reached; and what is the earliest expected start date for each scheme.
About £75 million at November 1979 prices. The schemes are as follows. Apart from the northern part of the Newcastle western by-pass—which was formerly a Tyne and Wear county council scheme and for which a preferred route was announced in July 1981—planning is still in the earliest stages, and none has reached the point of public consultation, although for some of the schemes, where there is clearly only one option, this will not be necessary.In addition to these schemes, design work has been resumed on nine schemes, worth about £120 million, which had been temporarily suspended in the 1980 Mute Paper.
Schemes added to the programme since June 1980
| Place in the Programme as shown in "Policy of Roads: England 1981" (Cmnd. 8496)
|
| M5—Catshill—Lydiate Ash Widening* | MP 1984 and 85 |
| M5/M42—Catshill Northern Link* | MP 1984 and 85 |
| M26—Otford Slip Roads | MP 1984 and 85 |
| M26—Stretford—Eccles Improvement (Stage I Barton Bridge and Stage II) | MP 1982 and 83 |
| A6—Quorn and Mountsorrel Bypass | RL 1986 onwards |
| A13—Thames Avenue Flyover | MP 1984 and 85 |
| A13—Dovers Comer Flyover | MP 1984 and 85 |
| A27—Langstone Flyover | RL 1982 and 83 |
| A36—Beckington Bypass | RL 1986 onwards |
| A40—Swakeleys Road Grade Separated Junction | RL 1986 onwards |
| A40—Long Lane Grade Separated Junction | RL 1986 onwards |
| A41—Bicester Southern Bypass | MP 1986 onwards |
| A47—Castor Bypass* | RL 1986 onwards |
| A69—Newcastle Western Bypass Extension | MP 1984 and 85 |
| A249—Iwade Bypass | RL 1986 onwards |
| A259—Winchelsea Bypass | RL 1986 onwards |
| A339—Basingstoke Northern Bypass | RL 1982 and 83 |
| A595—Egremont Bypass | RL 1986 onwards |
| A596—Wigton Bypass | RL 1986 onwards |
| MP = Main Programme. | |
| RL = Reserve List. | |
* Replacements for earlier schemes. | |
asked the Secretary of State for Transport what factors led to the decision to increase the budget for local road maintenance in 1982–83 as compared with 1981–82; and whether evidence from the national road maintenance condition survey was a contributory factor.
Each local authority determines its own annual budget for road maintenance. The Government contribute towards this budget through transport supplementary grant. As my hon. Friend implies, the recent settlement for 1982–83 was a generous one. The national road maintenance condition survey formed part of the background against which the Government decided how much to allocate nationally to road maintenance.
asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will break down the motorway and trunk road maintenance budget for 1981–82 and 1982–83 into (a) motorway normal, (b) motorway major, (c) other trunk roads normal, (d) other trunk roads major and (e) other.
The breakdown of the motorway and trunk road maintenance budget for 1981–82 and 1982–83 is:
| 1981–82 Estimated Outturn prices (£ thousand) | 1982–83 Cash provision (£ thousand) | |
| (a) Motorway Normal | 33,003 | 28,792 |
| (b) Motorway Major | 63,148 | 67,733 |
| (c) Other Trunk Roads Normal | 58,662 | 42,446 |
| (d) Other Trunk Roads Major | 13,578 | 11,400 |
| (e) Other (excluding lighting) | 2,709 | 7,517 |
| TOTAL | 171,100 | 157,888 |