Campaigners call for LTC plans to be halted after smart motorway pause
Campaigners trying to stop the construction of the Lower Thames Crossing are claiming that the decision to pause the roll-out of smart motorways for five years means the new tunnel project should be halted too. The Thames Crossing Action Group members say that they understand crossing will be built to smart motorway standards and if […]
National Highways Chief Safety Adviser tells Highways Voices, Smart Motorways must deal with safety perception
Subscribe to Highways Voices free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or Pocket Casts and never miss an episode! National Highways’ first Chief Safety Adviser has told the latest Highways Voices podcast that “things have to be addressed” when it comes to the perception of safety on smart motorways. As the Government announces a pausing of the rollout of any […]
Government halts smart motorway roll-out
The rollout of new smart motorway schemes will be paused until a full five years’ worth of safety data is available, as the Department for Transport invests £900 million to improve safety on existing All Lane Running motorways. In line with the Transport Committee’s most recent recommendations, the rollout of new ALR smart motorways will […]
Survey suggests smart motorways are misunderstood
A new survey of drivers in England suggests nearly half of drivers don’t know what to do if they break down on a smart motorway. Research by Maru/Blue for the insurance comparison site GoCompare found 45% of drivers surveyed said they wouldn’t know what to do, while 52% of respondents were not aware that you […]
National Highways launches new Red X campaign
Drivers are being urged to follow safe driving rules on smart motorways in a new campaign from National Highways. The “Don’t Ignore The Red X” campaign is trying to boost understanding of driving on the motorways without a hard shoulder. “Would you know what to do when you see a red X?” it asks, “Move […]
Smart motorway scheme “put on hold”
It’s reported that Highways England has paused work on the M3 smart motorway project after safety fears from MPs. The website Construction Enquirer reports Balfour Beatty is “the first to be hit with National Highways confirming that its team on the M3 Smart motorway project should be stood down”. The report says civil engineering arm […]
MPs call for smart motorways “pause”
There is not enough safety and economic data to justify continuing with the roll-out of smart motorways, according to a new report by the Transport Select Committee. The Committee is calling for National Highways to suspend the roll-out of new all lane running schemes until there is more data. It has said it wants to […]
DfT promises investigation into newspaper’s Smart Motorway safety story
The Department for Transport has told the Daily Mail it will investigate the newspaper’s claims of faulty equipment used on smart motorways. The paper says it based an undercover reporter in the South Mimms control room, who found that cameras did not work, were misted up or facing the wrong way and software used to […]
M56 smart motorway opening delayed for SVD
National Highways says there’ll be a delay in opening the £85 million upgrade of the M56 between junction 6 for Hale and 8 for Bowden because of the need to introduce Stopped Vehicle Detection technology. The four-mile section is one of the busiest in the North West, carrying 100,000 vehicles a day and is having […]
Six in 10 people believe all-lane running smart motorways should be scrapped, according to new report
Six in 10 drivers believe that all-lane-running ‘smart’ motorways should be scrapped entirely with the hard shoulder reinstalled, a new report by the RAC has shown. The RAC’s Report on Motoring 2021 questioned 2,652 drivers about the sections of smart motorways which do without a hard shoulder, with only a quarter of respondents supporting the […]
