Are smart motorways coming back?
Wed, 17 Apr 2024
More than 50 new emergency areas are to be built on smart motorways in the south east – which has left some wondering whether it means smart motorways are now back in favour with the Government.
The 52 new safety areas will be installed on the M25, M20, M27, M4 and M3. A lane will be closed while work is underway, with motorways subject to a 50mph speed limit during construction.
The new motorway emergency areas will all be 100 metres long, painted orange and equipped with an emergency telephone.
The 52 new areas are part of a £900 million package of safety improvements on smart motorways, including the installation of up to 150 emergency areas.
"Safety is our highest priority," says National Highways’ Felicity Clayton. "We have listened to drivers' concerns about having more places to stop in an emergency on motorways which don’t have a permanent hard shoulder."
National Highways explains that the work is part of the Government’s £900m investment in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways, which includes adding an additional 150 emergency areas across the network and giving motorists clear advice when using smart motorways to boost public confidence.
"It’s incredible to think that a decade has gone by since the first all-lane-running stretch of smart motorway opened on the M25 and that it’s a year to the day since the prime minister cancelled all 14 future schemes, citing financial pressures and a lack of public confidence in them," responded RAC head of policy Simon Williams.
“While heralded as a cost-effective way of increasing capacity on some of our busier roads, a colossal amount of public money has since gone into trying to make them safer. However, the ultimate question remains: will the motoring public ever be entirely comfortable driving on the 200-plus miles of motorway where the hard shoulder has been permanently removed?"
The RAC says the Government should either convert existing all-lane-running smart motorways to ‘dynamic’ ones, where the hard shoulder is only opened to traffic during busy periods, or repaint the white line and reintroduce a permanent hard shoulder.
The latest National Highways report shows there were 193 miles of all-lane-running motorways in 2021. Since then, work has progressed on competing schemes on the M6 and M56, taking the total to over 200 miles.
Last year, RAC research showed that 7 in 10 drivers wanted the hard shoulder reinstated, regardless of the Government claiming it would be too disruptive and costly.
However, the latest safety improvements to smart motorways indicate the end is not in sight for these controversial roads. Whether it also indicates a renewed acceptance of them by the government remains to be seen…
Can I plan a route without smart motorways?
