Commander Maitland:

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made during recent months in improving the Great North Road; how many miles of dual carriageway have been completed; what are his plans for the future and what rate of progress he anticipates.

Since July of this year, 10 miles of new dual carriageway on the Great North Road have been opened to traffic. Work is also in progress on a further 23½ miles of dual carriageway.

The improvement of this road is one of my first priorities, and dual carriageways will be built as fast as funds will allow, but the improvement must obviously be phased over a number of years. I expect that about 70 miles of dual carriageway will be open to traffic by the end of 1959 and a further 70 miles will at that time be under construction.

Commander Maitland:

Does my right hon. Friend realise that those of us who live near the north of England are grateful for the progress which has been made and that we shall be more grateful if that progress can be accelerated?

I certainly want to do my best, because I know what a contribution this road can make to the more efficient movement of both commercial vehicles and private traffic.