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16 Jan 2006 : Column 937W—continued
Road Improvements
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many roads have been widened in the last five years to ease bottlenecks. [40575]
Dr. Ladyman:
I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 11 January 2006 (UIN 40570) which provides information on the Highways Agency trunk roads that have been widened in each of the last five years.
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The following table lists local authority roads that have been widened (at a cost of over £5 million) to ease bottlenecks in the last five years:
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list trunk roads given lower noise surfaces in each of the last five years. [40577]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency aims to resurface the strategic road network with quieter materials as structural or safety related maintenance becomes due.
Highway maintenance is carried out on a whole life cost basis, implementing the appropriate maintenance treatment at the optimum time. The requirement to carry out carriageway maintenance is based on the condition of an identified length of carriageway. Consequently, maintenance is not carried out for complete lengths of individual roads, but only where it has been identified as being required as part of the whole life cost maintenance solution.
The following table shows the number of roads where the Highways Agency has implemented lengths of lower noise surfacing in the last five years, together with the number of lane kilometres (Lkms) treated (up to 21 December 2005):
| Number of roads | Total Lkms | |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 45 | 638.4 |
| 2002 | 54 | 951.5 |
| 2003 | 62 | 1237.4 |
| 2004 | 68 | 912.2 |
| 2005(9) | 45 | 778.4 |
(9)Details taken from HAPMSystem on 21 December 2005, details for 2005 are therefore incomplete.
A list showing individual roads that were treated in each of the years in the above table has been placed in the Libraries of the House.
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was spent on maintenance for trunk roads in each year since 2000–01. [40578]
Dr. Ladyman:
The motorways and trunks roads of the strategic road network are managed by the Highways Agency, an executive Agency of the Department for Transport. The reporting of the spend on these roads is
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not broken down between motorways and trunk roads. The figures for the spend on the maintenance of these roads since 2000–01 are, in £ million:
| Motorways and trunk roads | |
|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 545 |
| 2001–02 | 603 |
| 2002–03 | 656 |
| 2003–04 | 863 |
| 2004–05 | 857 |
Road Safety
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those companies supporting his Department's THINK! road safety campaign; and if he will make a statement. [40979]
Dr. Ladyman: The Department's 2005 Annual Report to Parliament (Command Paper CM6527) listed the companies who supported the THINK! road safety campaign in 2004. Details of companies who are currently supporting the campaign are listed:
The THINK! Road Safety campaign has received in-kind rather than cash donations from these partners. Iwelcome this third party support. It provides a very valuable and effective way of communicating key campaign messages, using practical and immediate solutions, through commercial brands.
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will include in the forthcoming Road Safety Bill measures to introduce additional penalties for those who continue to use hand-held mobile phones while driving. [42194]
Dr. Ladyman: The Road Safety Bill contains provisions to make the offence of using a hand-held mobile phone while driving endorsable with. three penalty points. The Fixed Penalty Notice will become 60. For those convicted in court, the available penalties will include penalty points and a discretionary disqualification as well as a fine of up to £1,000 (£2,500 in the case of a goods vehicle or a bus/coach).
Road Traffic Congestion
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the change in the level of road traffic congestion since 2000–01. [40568]
Dr. Ladyman:
The Government announced in the White Paper The Future of Transport (July 2004) that it was replacing the indicator set in Transport 2010: The Ten Year Plan (July 2000). The new indicators, relating to journey time reliability on Highways Agency roads and person movements on local authority roads, will be measured from 2005–06 onwards. It is not possible to compare the new congestion indicators with the one used in 2000.
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Roads
Mr. Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on levels of road traffic miles travelled and road traffic congestion in (a) Harborough constituency and (b) the East Midlands Government office area. [38842]
Dr. Ladyman: Over the last 12 months the Department has received 21 representations for the East Midlands region in respect of the levels of road traffic miles travelled and road traffic congestion; and none specifically for Harborough.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to ask the Highways Agency to review carriageway lighting in Cambridgeshire on the A47 and A1 routes in the next 12months. [40989]
Dr. Ladyman: The Highways Agency constantly monitors the safety record of all parts of the trunk road and motorway network and where justified takes action to install new lighting or extend any existing lighting provision. In all cases, the critical determining factor is the number and severity of accidents that have occurred during hours of darkness.
Following a structural and electrical testing programme of lighting columns on the A47 in Cambridgeshire, the Highways Agency plans to replace existing lighting on the A47 Soke Parkway between junctions 17 and 20. These works are phase 2 of the contract and are currently programmed to start in September this year.
The A1 in Cambridgeshire consists of an all purpose trunk road and a section of motorway known as A1(M) between junctions 14 and 17, running from Alconbury to Peterborough.
Lighting was provided along the complete length of the A1(M) at the outset, when the motorway opened in 1998 and no review is planned.
The Highways Agency has no proposals to review carriageway lighting along the A1 all-purpose trunk road in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough City. Existing lighting columns and lanterns will be replaced as and when required under the Agency's maintenance regime.
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