Roads: Repairs and Maintenance Norman Baker To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what work her Department is undertaking on the modelling criteria for (a) new and (b) widened roads; what timescale is being applied to this work; and if she will make a statement. Mr. Tom Harris The Department expects modelling for schemes to be robust and advice on criteria forms part of the New Approach to Appraisal. For road schemes, the details can be found on the transport analysis website at: http://www.webtag.org.uk/ and also in the Highways Agency's Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. Mr. Ellwood To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are to improve roads in the Dorset area; and what funds are available for such improvements. Ms Rosie Winterton For the South West region, the Government have provided almost £865 million, through the Regional Funding Allocation (RFA), to be spent between 2007-08 and 2015-16 for regionally significant transport schemes, including road investment. The region undertook a prioritisation exercise and the following road schemes within Dorset are currently programmed for funding: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Scheme |Scheme sponsor|DFT contribution (£ million)| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Poole Bridge Regeneration Initiative |Poole |13 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |A354 Wey mouth Relief Road |Dorset |71 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |SE Dorset Bus Showcase Corridors, potentially including some road improvements|SE Dorset |15 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additionally, the DFT has provided the following non-ringfenced capital allocations for the three years from 2008-09 to 2010-10 for routine highway maintenance in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Authority |2008-09|2009-10|20010-11|2008-09 to 2010-11| -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bournemouth |932 |1,025 |1,179 |3,135 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Dorset |8,619 |9,267 |10,032 |27,919 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Poole |1,314 |1,413 |1,530 |4,258 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Whole of Dorset area |10,865 |11,706 |12,741 |35,312 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Percentage of regional total|9.9 |10.2 |10.1 |10.1 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Highways Agency is responsible for the A31 and A35 through the Dorset area. There are currently no plans for improvements to the A31 within Dorset. However, on the A35 there are proposals to improve the capacity at three roundabouts before the 2012 Olympics. They are as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Route|Improvement |Estimated cost (£ million)| ------------------------------------------------------------------- |A35 |Weymouth Road Stadium roundabout|1.8 | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |A35 |Stinsford roundabout |0.7 | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |A35 |Bere Regis roundabout |0.3 | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |Total| |2.8 | -------------------------------------------------------------------