M3

Mrs. Maria Miller
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment (a) her Department and (b) the Highways Agency has made of the capacity of junction 6 of the M3 to deal with predicted traffic levels (i) up to and (ii) beyond 2011.

Mr. Tom Harris
The Highways Agency, Hampshire county council and Basingstoke and Deane borough council have agreed in principle that improvements to M3 J6/Black Dam roundabout would be needed for development envisaged in the Basingstoke local plan to proceed.

Hampshire and Basingstoke councils are developing a transport model for Basingstoke which will be used to test development options and identify impacts on transport infrastructure for inclusion in the new Local Development Framework documents. This model will identify likely future traffic flows at M3 Junction 6. The Highways Agency is working in partnership with the two councils to look at appropriate improvement options for the junction.