To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what her policy is on widening parts of the M62; what research her Department and its agencies have commissioned on M1/M62 widening and improvements in the last three years; what estimate she has made of the cost of such widening and improvements; and when she expects work to commence on the outstanding sections of the M1/M62 widening and improvements package. (194015)

It is our policy to provide targeted improvements on seriously congested sections of the road network, subject to schemes offering value for money and being affordable. The Highways Agency has carried out detailed investigations over the last three years into options for increasing capacity on the M62 between junctions 25 and 28 and on the M1 between junctions 30 and 42. A scheme to widen the M1 between junctions 31 and 32 was opened to traffic in December 2007 and fully complete in February 2008.

In light of the results of the Advanced Motorway Signalling and Traffic Management Feasibility Study published on 4 March, the Highways Agency will be examining whether Active Traffic Management including hard shoulder running would provide a cost effective means of providing additional capacity on the other sections. The scheme cost and delivery timetable are dependent on the options that we decide to take forward for each section.