Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many different stretches of road works are currently taking place on the M1 between London and junction 32 with the M18; and for what reasons such works have not been phased to take place consecutively rather than concurrently.

There are currently 11 stretches of road works that are taking place on the M1 between London and junction 32 with the M18. Of these, 2 are related to a major improvement – M1 J28-31 upgrade to Smart Motorway and M1 J19 Catthorpe improvement.

To maintain the strategic road network in a safe and serviceable condition, it is inevitable that Highways Agency road works will need to be undertaken at several locations at any one time throughout the year. Maintenance work is programmed to achieve good value for money and minimise disruption to road users. The majority of work is undertaken overnight to reduce lane closures when the motorway is busy.

The Agency operates a road booking system to manage planned works, but overnight emergency and other maintenance activities will take place on the M1 which may require single lane closures, temporary speed limits and occasional slip road closures.

When it is cost effective to do so, road works are also lifted on bank and seasonal holidays to limit disruption to road users.

In planning major road works, the option of breaking construction into a number of smaller sequential phases is considered, however this usually has the impact of prolonging the overall duration of construction and therefore the length of time of disruption for road users.