To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the lane restrictions on the M3 at its junction with the M25 came into force; what works were undertaken requiring the restrictions; when those works were completed; for what purpose cameras were installed west of the junction; and when she expects to lift the lane restrictions. (175609)

The trial layout of lane restrictions at Junction 12 of M25 came into force on 5 March 2007.

The lane restrictions were put in place to improve the flow of traffic from the M25 onto the M3 by re-allocating the available road space more accurately to reflect actual traffic flow. Traffic on the M3 has been restricted to a single lane through this junction to allow two dedicated lanes for traffic joining from the M25.

The trial was initially implemented for a period of four weeks to confirm the effective operation of the layout. As the trial layout has proved to be effective it has been retained.

Throughout the new layout a speed limit of 50 mph has been implemented and managed by Surrey Safety Camera Partnership to act as a safety deterrent while the trial is in place.

An announcement will be made shortly as to whether this scheme is to be made permanent or if lane restrictions are to be removed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate her Department has made of the likely levels of road usage on the A595 between Greenodd and Whitehaven by (a) private vehicles and (b) freight traffic in each of the next three years. (176732)

The Department has made no specific estimates of road usage, either private or goods vehicles, on this stretch of road for the forthcoming three years. Forecasts of traffic at a regional level are made using the Department's National Transport Model (NTM) and these are published on the Department's web site:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadpricing/researchtrafficcongestion.

The latest forecasts for Northwest Region, which were published in October 2007, indicate that traffic growth on rural A roads between the years 2003 to 2010 will be 9 per cent. for cars, 17 per cent. for light goods vehicles and 2 per cent. for heavy goods vehicles.