Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the capacity of English sea ports to facilitate international trade after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chris Grayling
The UK ports sector is in an excellent position to facilitate growth in trade, both from the EU and from other countries, after we leave the EU. Several ports have invested strongly in capacity, to handle the largest container ships in global fleets and to adapt to changing patterns of energy generation. We will also see new investment proceeding at other ports such as at Dover Western Docks.
Asked by: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Broughton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of upgrading to a smart motorway the M56 adjacent to junctions six and seven; and what assessment he has made of the effect of upgrading that stretch of motorway on (a) safety and (b) journey times.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The latest estimate for the cost of the M56 junction 6-8 smart motorway scheme is between £62m - £120m.
The economic assessment for this scheme indicates that it will lead to an overall reduction in collisions and casualties on the network over the 60 year appraisal period. Traffic modelling indicates that the scheme will divert vehicles from the surrounding road network, releasing the pressure on that network. This will improve journey time reliability and contribute to a reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured (KSIs) on the road network as a whole.
This scheme is also expected to deliver journey time savings in both directions.