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Motorways

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of motorway in England have been resurfaced across their entire width with a noise suppressing surface. [30084]

Dr. Ladyman: The motorway network comprises 3,593 miles of two and three lane carriageway, of which 680 miles has been resurfaced with quieter surfacing across all respective carriageway lanes.

The Highways Agency does not record motorway carriageway data on a route basis. The motorway and trunk road network is managed on the basis of the two individual carriageways that comprise a motorway route (ie one carriageway in each direction); information for a complete width of motorway along a prescribed route cannot therefore be readily reported.

Mr. Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many kilometres of motorway received quiet surfacing in all lanes in (a) 2004, (b) 2003 and (c) 2002; and what percentage of the highway network each figure represents. [30093]

Dr. Ladyman: Motorway carriageway lengths that were resurfaced with quieter surfacing in all lanes and in both directions in each of the identified years, together with the associated percentage of the motorway network are shown in the table:

	Carriageway length (km)	% of motorway network
2002	146	2.5
2003	241	4.2
2004	97	1.7

Mr. Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the stretches of the M40 across which all lanes have been resurfaced with a noise suppressing surface; and what the length of the stretch involved is in each case. [30083]

Dr. Ladyman: The lengths of M40 motorway that have surfacing with noise reducing properties across all running lanes (not including the hardshoulder) are as follows:

Location	Carriageway direction	Length (metres)
2,200m north of J1A to 900m north of J4	Both	17,000
5,800m north of J4 to 5,960m north of J4	Both	160
200m south of J5 to 300m north of J5	South	500
170m south of J6 to 1,050m north of J6	Both	1,220
1,100m north of J6 to 2,080m north of J6	Both	980
2,130m north of J6 to 100m north of J8	Both	8,370
400m north of J8A to 800m north of J8A	South	400
5,400m north of J8A to 5,500m north of J8A	South	100
5,700m north of J8A to 5,860m north of J8A	South	160
5,860m north of J8A to 5,880m north of J8A	Both	20
5,880m north of J8A to 5,900m north of J8A	South	20
6,800m south of J9 to 6,700m south of J9	North	100
3,830m south of J10 to 3,760m south of J10	South	70
2,600m south of J10 to 2,300m south of J10	North	300
2,300m south of J10 to 2,100m south of J10	Both	200
1,100m south of J10 to 1,000m south of J10	North	100
5,900m north of J10 to 5,960m north of J10	South	60
6,000m north of J10 to 6,100m north of J10	North	100
7,000m north of J10 to 7,100m north of J10	Both	100
7,500m south of J11 to 7,400m south of J11	Both	100
7,000m south of J11 to 6,900m south of J11	South	100
6,900m south of J11 to 6,800m south of J1 1	North	100
5,200m south of J11 to 5,100m south of J11	North	100
3,500m south of J11 to 3,300m south of J11	South	200
3,300m south of J11 to 3,200m south of J11	Both	100
2,900m south of J11 to 2,800m south of J11	Both	100
2,500m south of J11 to 2,400m south of J11	Both	100
700m north of J11 to 900m north of J11	Both	200
1,200m north of J11 to 1,300m north of J11	Both	100
1,300m north of J11 to 1,400m north of J11	South	100
1,600m north of J11 to 1,700m north of J11	Both	100
1,800m north of J11 to 1,900m north of J11	North	100
5,600m north of J11 to 5,700m north of J11	North	100
8,290m south of J12 to 8,210m south of J12	North	80
5,800m south of J12 to 5,520m south of J12	South	280
5,200m south of J12 to 5,100m south of J12	North	100
1 ,400m south of J12 to 1,300m south of J12	South	100
2,100m north of J12 to 2,400m north of J12	South	300
3,400m north of J12 to 3,600m north of J12	Both	200
4,600m south of J13 to 4,400m south of J13	Both	200
4,400m south of J13 to 4,100m south of J13	South	300
4,000m south of J13 to 2,800m south of J13	North	1,200
1,400m north of J13 to 900m north of J14	South	2,200
900m north of J14 to 1,000m north of J14	Both	100
1,000m north of J14 to 300m south of J15	South	800
10,800m north of J15 to 10,900m north of J15	South	100
11,220m north of J15 to 11,290m north of J15	South	70

 
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National Port Traffic

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects consultation will begin on a national ports strategy. [28085]

 
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Dr. Ladyman: We expect to begin consultation early next year. General discussions have been held with some major stakeholders.

Ports Policy

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what date has been set for the release of the forthcoming review of ports policy. [30431]

Dr. Ladyman: We expect to issue a discussion document early next year.

Railways

Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether franchises for passenger rail services specify the proportion of standard class carriages to first class carriages that must be provided on intercity routes. [28078]

Derek Twigg: When letting new franchises, it is at a bidder's discretion to specify what proportion of standard class to first class carriages on intercity routes it will provide.

Road Accidents (Cumbria)

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) pedestrians, (b) cyclists, (c) drivers and (d) car occupants have been (i) injured and (ii) killed in Cumbria in each of the last six years for which figures are available. [30463]

Dr. Ladyman: The number of killed and injured pedestrian, cyclist, driver and car occupant casualties in Cumbria are given in the following table for the years 1999 to 2004.

	Pedestrians		Cyclists		Drivers(3)		Car Occupants(4)
	Killed	Injured(5)	Killed	Injured(5)	Killed	Injured(5)	Killed	Injured(5)
1999	9	292	1	151	37	1,526	44	2,024
2000	11	252	1	135	31	1,465	34	1,914
2001	7	257	2	133	30	1,454	30	1,873
2002	10	265	3	138	27	1,547	25	1,977
2003	5	250	0	139	35	1,511	32	1,867
2004	7	291	3	118	28	1,486	37	1,853

⁽³⁾ Drivers of all motor vehicles.
⁽⁴⁾ Includes both car drivers and passengers. Car drivers have been counted in both the car occupants and drivers columns.
⁽⁵⁾ Includes both serious and slight injuries.

Speed Limits

Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the procedure for changing speed limits on A roads was last reviewed; and if he will make a statement. [28327]

Dr. Ladyman [holding answer 17 November 2005]: The Government has no current plans to review the national speed limits for which it is responsible, namely:

70 mph for motorways and dual carriageways;

60 mph for single carriageway roads;

30 mph for urban street-lit roads ('restricted roads').

Where they feel that the national limit does not reflect local needs and considerations, traffic authorities (local highway authorities and the Highways Agency) have the powers to set local speed limits through section 84 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. This power applies to their entire road network, irrespective of the classification of roads (A, B, C and Unclassified roads).

To help ensure consistency in the setting of local speed limits, the Department has issued guidance, currently set out in Circular Roads 1/93. Many developments have taken place in speed management since 1993, and the Department consulted on draft updated guidance on setting local speed limits at the end of 2004. As well as further improving clarity and consistency, the draft seeks to re-emphasise that the function of a road should be one of the important factors in determining what an appropriate speed is. It will also incorporate important wider factors such as quality of life through, for
 
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example, striking a more sensible balance between road safety, accessibility and environmental objectives, especially in rural areas.

The updated guidance on the setting of local speed limits will be published shortly.

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