Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a pilot scheme for an 80mph motorway on the (a) M3, (b) M4 and (c) M6 toll road.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
We have no plans to do so at present but keep this issue under close review.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 186217 on A316: Speed Limits, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including the A316 in the strategic road network to be managed by National Highways.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Government will shortly make decisions about the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), which covers the period 2025 to 2030.
National Highways has recently published its Shaping the future of England's strategic roads which summarises evidence and proposals provided to the Department for Transport about the current performance of the SRN, future priorities for the next road period and beyond, as well as the analytical strategy National Highways has adopted.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2023 to Question 186218 on A30: Repairs and Maintenance, when the next additions to the major road network will be made.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The current Programme of Major Road Network/Large Local Majors (MRN/LLM) schemes is closed to new projects. Any future funding for a further MRN programme would be subject to the agreement of HM Treasury.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of schemes to use traffic signals at peak times only on (a) junctions and (b) roundabouts.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Decisions on whether to implement part-time traffic lights are for local authorities to make. As such the Department has made no such assessment. As mentioned in my response to UIN 188610 I would be happy to discuss specific examples with the Rt Hon. Member and my officials.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact on economic growth of switching from fixed time to part time signals at roundabouts.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Department has made no current assessment. Decisions on whether to signalise roundabouts, including whether they operate on a part-time basis, are for traffic authorities at individual locations. I would be happy to discuss specific examples with the Rt Hon. Member.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made on the impact of cars stopping and starting at traffic signals on the level of (a) fuel consumption of and (b) emissions produced by vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The department has not conducted any recent assessment of the impact on (a) fuel consumption and (b) emissions, from vehicles stopping and starting at traffic signals.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) strategic and (b) major road network in (i) Hampshire and (ii) surrounding counties on roads that continue out of Hampshire.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
On the Major Road Network, the Department is providing £13.4m to improvements to the A35 Redbridge Causeway, due to complete construction by the end of 2023. Our pipeline of schemes in the Major Road Network programme also includes the A326 Waterside improvements in Hampshire and improvements to the A31 Farnham Corridor (Surrey), both subject to business case approval.
On the Strategic Road Network, we have recently invested £282m on the M27 junctions 4 to 11 scheme which opened to traffic in June 2022. We are also committed to two other schemes in Hampshire; the M3 Junction 9 and M27 Junction 8, which are due to start construction before the end of 2024/25. Finally, as part of our considerations for future road periods beyond 2030, National Highways are considering the case for improving junction 3 of the M27, improving connections onto the A270 into Southampton
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make a comparative assessment of the level of safety on motorways in (a) the UK, (b) France, (c) Spain and (d) Austria; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of motorway speed limits on safety in those countries.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
Across all road classifications, the UK has some of the safest roads in the world. According to the latest (2021) international safety data consolidated and published by DfT, Great Britain and Northern Ireland have lower rates of road fatalities per million people than most European countries, including Germany, Spain and France. We do not have comparative figures specifically for Motorways.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken recent steps to connect junction one of the M49 to the road network.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
National Highways has committed funding towards construction of the link road from M49 Avonmouth Junction to Severnside Industrial Estate and Enterprise Area. The works will be delivered by South Gloucestershire Council.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the M4 speed limit is 60mph between Junctions 3 and 4 on the westbound carriageway.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
This section of the M4 has dangerous air quality, above the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide of 40µg/m³. The speed restriction is in place to help address that. It is expected to improve in time, which will, in due course, allow the restriction to be removed.