To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has had made of whether the A92 north of Dundee to Arbroath and Montrose fulfils the requirements set out in paragraph 2.1 of "Shaping the Trunk Road Network" in respect of industry, agriculture, tourism and access to ports; and if he will make a statement. [36406]

The intention of "Shaping the Trunk Road Network" was to provide the road user with a coherent and continuous system of routes serving destinations of importance to industry, commerce, agriculture and tourism. It also sought to define nationally important routes which will be developed in line with strategic national transport demands while ensuring that those roads which are of predominantly local importance are managed locally. The Government's decision on who should manage a particular road related not only to the volume of traffic on that road but to the nature of that traffic and where the economic benefit derived from that traffic fell. Although there is heavy traffic on the A92 near Dundee, the majority of trips on this road are local in nature. On this basis, the Government decided that, in national strategic terms, the route north from Dundee to Aberdeen is best served by the recently upgraded A90, while the A92, having greater importance locally, should remain under local management.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the average daily traffic flow on each 10-mile section of the A92 between Dundee and Arbroath and Montrose; what percentage of traffic consisted of heavy goods vehicles; what was the average journey time between Dundee and Arbroath at peak times; and what was the accident rate in the years (a) 1993–1994 and (b) 1994–1995. [36410]

Traffic data on the Scottish road traffic database are stored by "link" rather than on a "mile by mile" basis. It is therefore not possible to list these data in 10-mile sections. Information on the annual average daily flow and percentage of heavy goods vehicles by each such "link" for 1994 is set out in the table:

	Link number	Length (km)	AADF (number of vehicles)	Percentage of HGV
From Dundee	254005	5.9	11,561	11
	254010	6.4	9,176	13
	245015	7.2	9,439	10
To Arbroath	254020	0.9	9,357	10
From Arbroath	254030	0.5	10,351	6
	254035	9.3	5,089	11
	254040	8.4	4,834	13
	254045	1.1	7,459	11
	254050	2.3	11,764	10
To Montrose	254055	0.55	10,599	7

The Scottish Office national roads directorate has no information on the average journey time between Dundee and Arbroath at peak times.It is not possible to provide information on the accident rate—accidents per 1 million vehicle kilometres—as such data for local roads are not stored on a link basis and is therefore not consistent with that held by The Scottish Office to trunk roads. Information on the number of accidents on the A92 from Dundee to Montrose is stored by calendar year and is set out in the following table:

		Accident Severity
Road Section	Year	Fatal	Serious	Slight	Total
Claypotts, Dundee to	1993	2	6	21	29
Arbroath town centre	1994	1	5	19	25
Arbroath town centre to	1993	1	10	9	20
Ferryden, Montrose	1994	1	7	15	23

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will publish details and costings of feasibility studies for section of the A92, including (a) junctions leading to Monifieth and Carnoustie, (b) bypasses at Muirdrum and Marywell, (c) the Montrose bridge, (d) the bridge over the north Esk and (e) trunk road spurs leading to Arbroath and Montrose. [36411]

The Scottish Office national roads directorate has carried out no such feasibility studies on the A92. The section of the A92 from the roundabout with the A972 Kingsway east in Dundee to the junction with the A90 at the south end of the Stonehaven bypass is a local road and the responsibility for improvements rests with the local roads authorities.