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Sefton Eurogateway Regional Challenge

Sir Mark Lennox-Boyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress with the trunk road aspects of the Sefton Eurogateway regional challenge. [21642]

Sir George Young: I am pleased to say that the Highways Agency will make its contribution of £770,000 to the Eurogateway project by funding the environmental improvements to the A5036 in 1998-99. This should now enable the project to go forward.

Channel Tunnel Rail Link

Mr. Dunn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress he has made with regard to the provision of roads supporting the channel tunnel rail link. [21215]

Mr. Watts: I have instructed the Highways Agency to proceed as rapidly as possible with trunk road schemes which support the channel tunnel rail link. A number of key decisions have been taken. These include:

Following approval by Royal Assent of the £170 million A2-M2 widening between Cobham and M2 junction 4, work is to proceed on preparation of the contract documentation with the aim to invite tenders for a design and build contract in the spring of 1998 with a view to a start of works in 1999.

Work is to begin on the next stage of developing the £70 million A2 widening scheme between Bean and Cobham, which will comprise two phases, with the Highways Agency launching the selection process for the design agent(s).

In association with the Bluewater development, work started last November on widening the eastbound carriageway of A2 between A296, Watling street and A2260 Pepperhill. Tenders have been received for the second stage of those works--adding two replacement slip roads and upgrading the third to the B255 Bean junction--programmed to start later this spring. Both contracts together will cost some £5 million and are being funded almost entirely by the developer.

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Work is to proceed on the next stage of the £34 million A2-A282 Dartford improvement, with the Highways Agency starting the selection process for the Design Agent.

The Highways Agency has also identified a number of small-scale measures to improve safety, such as improved signing, white lining and merge areas on junctions between Pepperhill and Cobham, which will be introduced in the shorter term at a cost of about £30,000. Work on some of these has already begun.

The Highways Agency expects to announce the successful design agents for the A2 schemes later this year. This will allow the Agency to continue work on these important schemes which, will remove congestion and traffic delays that can occur, particularly during peak periods and in the summer.

A49 (Improvements)

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for improvements to the A49 trunk road at its intersection with the A489. [21175]

Mr. Watts: I have allocated funds for the Highways Agency to develop plans to improve the layout of the A49-A489 junction by providing a separate lane for traffic turning right off the trunk road. The proposal includes realigning the trunk road carriageway and widening the Stretford bridge over the River Orny south of the junction.

Recently, advance warning signs have been improved to make the junction more conspicuous and help reduce accidents. The agency is also considering the possibility of improving visibility at the junction without prejudicing the main scheme. The agency expects its design agents, Shropshire county council, to issue a report on this at the end of March.

London Underground (Northern Line Improvements)

Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) stations and (b) interchange stations on the Northern line were improved in each of the past three years; and which stations will be improved in 1997-98. [21079]

Mr. Bowis: Improvements to London Underground's Northern line stations are an operational matter for London Underground. However, I understand the position to be as follows:

(a) Northern Line Stations
Station improvement projects in the last three years
1994-95
Colindale
Kennington
1995-96
Brent Cross
Burnt Oak
Chalk Farm
Clapham North
Clapham South
Finchley Central
Hampstead
Totteridge and Whetstone
Tufnell Park

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1996-97
None
Station improvements in 1997-98
Clapham Common
Mornington Crescent
Oval
Tooting Bec
Tooting Broadway
(b) Interchange stations on the Northern Line
Station improvements in the last three years
1994-95
None
1995-96
Balham
King's Cross
Old Street
Waterloo
1996-97
Kentish Town
London Bridge
Station improvements in 1997-98
Bank/Monument.

To eliminate double counting, projects spanning more than one financial year have been allocated to the year in which the bulk of the work took place.

Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Inquiry

Mr. Mackinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 17 March, Official Report, column 419, (1) if he will furnish the reply given to the hon. Member for Thurrock in respect of the Heathrow terminal 5 inquiry to the inspector, Mr. Roy Vandermeer; [21226]

(2) if it is intended to revise the statement of Mr. T. Dockerty of the Department of Transport given to Mr. Roy Vandermeer on 27 February in respect of the Heathrow terminal 5 application; [21225]

(3) what mandate Mr. Dockerty of the Department of Transport had to give evidence at the inquiry into Heathrow terminal 5. [21230]

Mr. Watts: I will arrange to let the inspector of the Heathrow terminal 5 inquiry have a copy of the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Thurrock which appeared in column 419 of the Official Report on 17 March. There is no intention to revise the statement by Mr. Dockerty to the inquiry on 27 February.

Mr. Dockerty is a project manager in the Highways Agency, which acts for the Secretary of State for Transport at the inquiry. He is charged with representing the Secretary of State on a wide range of surface access matters, including evidence about the draft highways orders.

A36 (Salisbury Bypass)

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will hold a planning conference into the proposed A36 Salisbury bypass. [21247]

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Mr. Watts: No. Public consultation on three alternative routes for the bypass in 1988 showed overwhelming support for a route to the south of the city. This resulted in the selection of the published route which was the subject of year-long public inquiry held between 20 April 1993 and 27 April 1994. The inspector recommended in favour of the published route with one modification to take it further away from housing at Harnham on the south-west outskirts of the city.

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the evidence submitted from the statutory agencies into the environmental impacts of the proposed A36 Salisbury bypass; and if he will announce a timetable for further consultation on this evidence. [21246]

Mr. Watts: Written representations by English Nature, English Heritage and the National Rivers Authority were made publicly available during the 1993-94 public inquiry into the proposed bypass. None of these bodies nor the Countryside Commission appeared at the inquiry to object to the proposed bypass. The report on the public inquiry was published on 29 October last year when my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Transport announced that they were minded to confirm the draft orders to authorise construction of the bypass subject to their further consideration of certain specified matters.

Since then, English Nature, the Countryside Commission and the Environment Agency have been consulted in the course of reviews of the bypass which my right hon. Friends instructed the Highways Agency to carry out before they made a final decision on the scheme. The Highways Agency report on these reviews was placed in the Library on 17 March. It included the responses to the agency. The agency's report by the bodies they consulted will now be sent to interested parties to allow them an opportunity to comment. These comments will be taken into account in reaching a final decision on the bypass along with other representations received since last October's announcement. Six weeks are to be allowed for comments on the agency's report.

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many representations he has received from the Wiltshire area (a) for and (b) against the proposed Salisbury bypass since the start of the public inquiry.[21244]

Mr. Watts: The inspector who held the public inquiry reported objections to the bypass from some 300 sources, 20 of which were subsequently withdrawn. In addition, there were 280 pro-forma objections and four petitions of objection. He reported support for the bypass from 40 sources and one petition of support. He also reported that publication of objectors alternative routes attracted support for the published proposals from 75 additional sources.

Between the close of the inquiry and the announcement on 29 October last year that my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment were minded to confirm the draft orders authorising construction of the bypass a further 166 representations were received which included some 120 general objections to the bypass and three letters of support. Since the announcement on 29 October, a further 2,771

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representations have been received of which 2,599 are pro forma postcards and letters. Of these representations, 802 are for the bypass and 1,956 against. The majority of representations are from the Wiltshire area.

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