Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Motorways

Question 08/01/08 Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultation will be undertaken with (a) local residents and (b) those with business premises between junctions 26 to 30 of the M25 motorway. [176783]

Mr. Tom Harris: A series of five public exhibitions on the proposals for the widening of the M25 from Junction 27-30 were held during November and December 2007 to support the publication of the Environmental Statement. The comment period ends on 7 February 2008.

Similar exhibitions will be held for the section from Junction 26-27 as part of the consultation for the M25 Junction 23-27 widening. It is currently proposed that the Environmental Statement for this section will be published in 2011-12.

Roads

Question Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the M25 near Romford will be widened. [176784]

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Mr. Tom Harris: The M25 near Romford will be improved as part of the M25 Junction 27-30 widening. Subject to the satisfactory completion of the necessary statutory processes and the availability of funding, the current proposed start of works for this section of widening is 2009-10.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the M25 will be widened throughout its length. [176787]

Mr. Tom Harris: The current proposals for widening the M25 relate to the following sections:

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans there are to improve the M25 near the junction 27 (Romford) turn off. [176788]

Mr. Tom Harris: The M25 near Junction 27 will be improved as part of the Junction 27-30 widening. Subject to the satisfactory completion of the necessary statutory processes and availability of funding, start of works are planned for 2009-10.

M25: Contracts

Question 25/01/08 Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which companies have been invited to tender for the widening of the M25. [181644]

Mr. Tom Harris: There are three organisations that have been invited to tender for the M25 Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract. These are:

• A consortium of Amey, Laing O'Rourke and Ferrovial
• Connect Plus—Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Atkins and Egis Projects
• Flow—Costain, Carillion, Vinci and Laing Roads.

Roads: Finance

Question 06/03/08 - Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the latest ministerially-approved costs are of road schemes in the Highways Agency's Major Roads programme (a) in total and (b) broken down by individual scheme. [188495]

Mr. Tom Harris: The following table lists all schemes in the Highways Agency's programme of Major schemes which were not opened to traffic as of 21 February 2008.

M25

Question 17/03/08 - Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether her Department will be required to pay the bid costs for consortia which have bid for the £5 billion M25 contract if her Department decides not to continue with the M25 widening projects. [181874]

Mr. Tom Harris: There is no contractual obligation to pay the bid costs for consortia that have bid for the M25 contract.

Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she plans to make an announcement on remedial capital works in respect of junction 30 of the M25 motorway; and if she will make a statement. [184832]

Mr. Tom Harris: The Highways Agency is liaising with the promoter of the London Gateway Port and Business Park Development (Shell haven) on proposed measures at M25 Junction 30 to mitigate traffic generated by the development proposal. The timing of delivery of these measures is linked to a trigger of development either from the proposed port and/or business park.

Additionally the Highways Agency is currently working with stakeholders and other partners in the Thames Gateway South Essex region to investigate solutions for possible improvements to relieving congestion affecting strategic traffic movements at junctions 30/31 and along the A13 trunk road. By autumn 2008 we aim to have identified options that we will take forward in preparation for further consultation in 2009.

Any preferred solution identified will complement those which are being proposed by the promoter of the London Gateway Port and Business Park Development and will also need to complement other transport measures such as enhanced public transport to help alleviate congestion at the junctions.

M25: Finance

Question 02/04/08 - Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the latest ministerially-approved costs are of the (a) M25 widening schemes and (b) M1 widening schemes; and what the original estimated cost was of these schemes. [188494]

Mr. Tom Harris: The following table provides the information requested for the schemes on the M1 and M25 motorways, forming part of the Highways Agency's programme of major schemes, which were designated 'widening schemes' at programme entry. Following the Nichols report on the Highways Agency, revised cost estimates for a number of the schemes listed are currently in preparation. In addition,

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Following publication on 4 March of the 'Advanced Motorway Signalling and Traffic Management Feasibility Study' a number of these schemes will be considered for their suitability for active traffic management (ATM), including hard shoulder running, as an alternative to conventional widening. Where ATM is selected as the preferred option the scheme cost will be re-estimated.

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made towards achieving the target of widening 5 per cent of the strategic road network by 2010, as stated in the Transport 10 Year Plan of 2000 issued by his Department's predecessor; against what baseline this target is measured; and what percentage of the strategic road network was widened in each year since 2000. [232014]

Paul Clark: The 10-year plan published in July 2000 set out a broad package of measures for improving transport. Over the 10-year period, individual projects in the Highways Agency's programme would flow from the outcome of multi modal studies and decisions taken through regional transport strategies. Although the plan gave an indicative figure for widening the strategic road network, this is not a target that the Government monitors performance against.

The following table provides detail of the schemes widened from 2000 to 2007 (the last full year for which data is available).

Question 22/10/08 - Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of road schemes which have been approved in the last 12 months have been procured using (a) a DBFO contract and (b) another type of private finance initiative. [227092]

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Paul Clark: The Highways Agency has not awarded any DBFO or other privately financed contracts for road schemes in the last 12 months.