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18 Jan 2010 : Column 69Wcontinued
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what aspects of air quality are monitored at the Dartford River Crossing; and if he will make a statement. [309418]
Chris Mole: The Highways Agency undertakes workplace exposure surveys to ascertain background concentrations of diesel exhaust fumes, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, toluene, xylene, ethyl benzene and benzene during the normal working day.
The results are measured against Health and Safety Executive Workplace Exposure Limits and other European exposure limits. This monitoring, which is carried out by an independent organisation, shows that the levels being recorded at the Dartford Crossing are consistently well below set acceptable levels.
Under part 4 of the Environment Act 1995, Dartford Borough Council and Thurrock Council operate Air Quality Management Areas on the A282 adjacent to the crossing. These results can be found on the following websites:
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what systems are used for switching on "Q" queuing signs on the Dartford River Crossing approaches; and what (a) traffic levels and (b) other variables trigger the signs. [309416]
Chris Mole: The "Q" signs on the approaches to the Dartford River Crossing were unique to Dartford and did not conform to signs used on the rest of the highway network. Their use was terminated in April 2009.
At present, traffic flows are monitored and when operators perceive that congestion has developed on the approach to the crossing, signs warning of queues are set manually.
The Highways Agency are in the process of implementing proposals for variable message signs to display the word "Queue" and be automatically set by the Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling system based on various factors including traffic levels. This system is expected to operate from April 2010.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport between which points journey time measurements relating to the Dartford River Crossing are monitored on a monthly basis by (a) his Department and (b) the Highways Agency. [309417]
Chris Mole: The Dartford Crossing is part of the strategic road network, which is monitored by the Highways Agency.
The crossing lies within one of the routes monitored for progress against the Department for Transport's public service agreement indicator on journey time reliability on the strategic road network. The public service agreement indicator relates to delays rather than specific journey times. Information is collected by the Highways Agency on behalf of the Department.
The indicator route from Junction 30 to Junction 7 of the M25 (clockwise and anti-clockwise) includes the road over the crossing.
Journey time information is also collected by the Highways Agency for each junction to junction link on the motorway network. Links from Junction 30 to Junction 2 of the M25 (clockwise and anti-clockwise) are used to provide journey time estimates for vehicles using the crossing. The crossing itself is most closely represented by links from Junction 31 to Junction 1A of the M25.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what estimate he has made of the average traffic flow through each of the toll-collecting lanes at the Dartford River Crossing toll plaza during each (a) day and (b) week in the last 12 months. [309422]
Chris Mole: The average traffic flow through each of the toll-collecting lanes at the Dartford River Crossing toll plaza during each (a) daily period and (b) week are as follows:
Average traffic flows by lane for the period 13 September 2009 to 2 January 2010, figures for charging period only (06:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.) | ||
Lane | Daily | Weekly |
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent progress has been made against public service agreement targets relating to congestion at (a) the Dartford River Crossing and (b) roads leading to that crossing. [309423]
Chris Mole: On 3 December 2009 the Department published the latest monthly statistics (October 2009) on congestion on inter-urban roads as part of monitoring progress on its public service agreement (PSA) target.
The Dartford River Crossing lies within one of the routes monitored (M25 junction 30 to junction 7) for the PSA target. Table 1 shows the provisional figures for this route for the year ending October 2009.
Table 1: Average vehicle delay (minutes per 10 miles) on the slowest 10 per cent. of journeys on the PSA route incorporating the Dartford Crossing | ||||
Road number | Route start point | Route end point | Average vehicle delay year ending March 2008 | Average vehicle delay year ending October 2009 |
Table 2 shows the provisional figures for the year ending October 2009 for the PSA routes approaching the Dartford Crossing.
Table 2: Average vehicle delay (minutes per 10 miles) on the slowest 10 per cent. of journeys on the PSA routes approaching the Dartford Crossing | ||||
Road number | Route start point | Route end point | Average vehicle delay year ending March 2008 | Average vehicle delay year ending October 2009 |
This information can be also found on the Department for Transport website at:
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether (a) his Department and (b) the Highways Agency has set targets to increase the rate at which vehicles may pass through the Dartford River Crossing toll plaza. [309424]
Chris Mole: The Dartford River Crossing is part of the Strategic Road Network which is monitored by the Highways Agency. The Highways Agency's contract with the Dartford Crossing operator (Connect Plus) has a requirement for a traffic throughput at the Dartford Toll plazas of 5,000 vehicles per hour, without generating traffic queues extending beyond the toll plaza areas.
To monitor performance against this requirement, the average queue length is measured and reported separately for each payment plaza and time of day (peak, off-peak, night). The average toll collection transaction time each month is also measured and reported upon.
Mr. Holloway:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether he has made a recent estimate of
the average balance of a Dartford River Crossing pre-payment Dart-Tag user's account in respect of each vehicle type. [309420]
Chris Mole: The Department for Transport does not make estimates of average balances of Dartford River Crossing pre-payment Dart-Tag accounts.
Mr. Holloway:
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the daytime charge for use of the
Dartford River Crossing including discounts, was for each vehicle type (a) when a Dart-Tag was being used by a driver registered in (i) Dartford constituency, (ii) Thurrock constituency, (iii) Gravesham constituency and (iv) another area and (b) when a driver was not using a Dart-Tag in 1997; on what dates such charges have changed since 1997; and what the new charge was in each case. [309421]
Chris Mole: The daytime charges for use of the Dartford River Crossing in 1997 were as follows:
£ | ||||||||
Dartford Constituency | Thurrock Constituency | Gravesham Constituency | Other Areas | |||||
1997 | Cash | Dart-tag | Cash | Dart-tag | Cash | Dart-tag | Cash | Dart-tag |
(1) For an Annual registration fee of 10.00, residents within Dartford and Thurrock council areas are entitled to make 50 free crossings each year and then pay 20p for each subsequent crossing. Note: Charge for towing a trailer or caravan was the same as charge of towing vehicle e.g. one car = two with caravan |
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