Examination of Witnesses (Questions 374
- 379)
WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY 2009
MR GRAHAM
DALTON AND
MS GINNY
CLARKE
Q374 Chairman: Good afternoon and
could I ask you to identify yourselves for our records, please?
Mr Dalton: I am Graham Dalton.
I am Chief Executive of the Highways Agency.
Ms Clarke: I am Ginny Clarke and
I am the Director of Network Services for the Highways Agency.
Q375 Chairman: Thank you. The Government
is still investigating road user charging. What role does the
Highways Agency play in that?
Mr Dalton: I think our role is
to support the Department and we have been working with the Department
for Transport, really looking at the details of how the network
is operating and what may need to be done on the network to support
a system working, so really a support role on technical matters
primarily.
Q376 Chairman: What sorts of technical
matters have you been dealing with?
Mr Dalton: The layout of roads
and junctions, the different sorts of schemes there may be, so
if there was segregation of traffic, how would you lay out junctions,
so looking at things like the weaving of traffic and movement
of traffic.
Q377 Chairman: Have you done a great
deal of work on this?
Mr Dalton: We have done some work
over the last six months or so. I would not say it is a huge amount.
It was an important work stream last summer for a while.
Q378 Chairman: Is this specifically
related to road user charging, or is this general work?
Mr Dalton: The Department was
looking at the feasibility of charging for tolled lanes in the
context of the managed motorways schemes that we have been working
up as a wider scheme and hard shoulder running.
Q379 Chairman: Has the option of
charging drivers only on the motorways and trunk roads been considered?
Mr Dalton: The work we have done
for the Department has only been about the motorways.
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