Written question asked by Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 7 February 2000, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 February 2000. It was answered by Keith Hill (Labour) on Thursday, 10 February 2000 on behalf of the Highways Agency.

Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions;Highways Agency

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, what road noise reduction surfaces his Department has recently approved for use. - Inc text of letter from Jon Seddon of the Highways Agency.

Answer: Mr. Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what road noise reduction surfaces his Department has recently approved for use. [109378] Mr. Hill: I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Peter Nutt, to write to the hon. Member. Letter from Jon Seddon to Mr. Mark Oaten, dated 10 February 2000: The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions has asked me to respond to your question about what road noise reduction surfaces his Department has recently approved for use. In the absence of the Chief Executive I am responding to the question. In addition to porous asphalt and exposed aggregate concrete which are included in the specification for trunk road construction, to date the Highways Agency has approved, for use on trunk roads in England, fifteen proprietary surfacing products which have been shown to generate significantly lower noise levels than conventional surfaces. Six of these products were approved in the past year. They are already being widely used for surfacing roads that need maintenance. For the future, a new scheme for approving a range of innovative products has been set up with other highway authorities under which the British Board of Agreement will certify that products meet the specified performance requirements.

Secondary information