3 replies to this topic

[mab01uk]

"Contractors on the project now expect the planned new motorways to be scrapped.
No new smart motorways are currently set to be built in the UK after serious concerns were raised over safety and cost.
The Government paused the rollout of all new routes at the beginning of last year, pending a review of safety data from smart motorways already constructed. And 'i-news' understands the rest of the £3bn project, which was to see new roads constructed in Greater Manchester, the Pennines and London, has now been shelved for the foreseeable future."
https://inews.co.uk/...ty-cost-2257652

 

"Roads minister Richard Holden was today challenged about a coroner's verdict this week, in which it was said a crash on a smart motorway that left two pensioners dead would not have happened if there had been a hard shoulder.
Derek Jacobs, 83, died when his van was hit by a car on the M1 near Sheffield in March 2019 after he had stopped in the live inside lane following a tyre blow-out and got out of the vehicle.
The front seat passenger in the Ford Ka that hit the van, Charles Scripps, 78, died in hospital two months after the collision.
 Mr Holden told Sky News: 'That's exactly the reason we're pausing them, is to see overall what the impact is. We need to get that data."

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: 'If ministers are giving serious consideration to completely scrapping new all-lane-running smart motorways, then this is an admission that the Government no longer has faith in these types of roads, a conclusion that most drivers came to a long time ago.
'The next big question is: what happens to the hundreds of miles of motorway without a hard shoulder? It’s clear from RAC research that drivers want the hard shoulder back, so it may be the case that solid white lines have to be painted to all the inside lanes of these motorways.'

 

Edited by mab01uk, 06 April 2023 - 07:34 PM.

[mab01uk]

All new smart motorways scrapped.
New smart motorways to be removed from government road-building plans due to financial pressures and lack of confidence felt by drivers.
https://www.gov.uk/g...orways-scrapped

However the campaign for reinstating a hard shoulder on the existing 'smart' motorways continues....

 

[mab01uk]

Edmund King writes below and is president of the AA

Let’s hope this is the end of the road for deadly smart motorways.
The decision that all planned smart motorways will be scrapped is a victory for common sense and safety.
Edmund King (Telegraph 15/04/2023)

"For a decade I’ve been banging on the doors of a dozen transport secretaries and ministers telling them about the deadly dangers of smart motorways.
I have asked them if they would rather break down on a motorway with a chance of getting onto a hard shoulder or on a motorway where they would have to pray they would be spotted in a live lane; pray that the control centre will activate a warning; pray that a Red X comes up; and pray that other drivers will not ignore it.
I have told them that 37 per cent of breakdowns on smart motorways happen in live lanes and that drivers are then sitting ducks in a deadly game of Russian roulette.
I was told by at last 11 of them that I was too emotional. Yes, I was emotional because lives were at risk. I was emotional because I had worked with Meera Naran, whose eight-year-old beautiful boy, Dev, was killed on the M6.
I make no excuse for being emotional after listening to calls to the AA from drivers stranded in live lanes asking, with fear in their voices, what they can do.
At the AA we did all that we could to make the case for change. I have worked closely with The Telegraph’s investigative reporters, such as Steve Bird, over the last few years, who have consistently uncovered new angles to the campaign and kept the spotlight on the issue.
To his credit, Grant Shapps, when he was transport secretary, did begin to listen and instigate some changes. But even then, stopped-vehicle detection technology belatedly rolled out to “make roads safe” was not even meeting targets according to the Office of Rail and Road. It was not smart.
The scandal has left blood on the hands of those involved.
Officials knew that moving the goalposts from emergency areas every 400 to 500m on the pilot M42 to every 2,500m when rolled out across the network would cost lives. This was motorway widening on the cheap and at least 40 people have paid the ultimate price. This is the scandal of smart motorways.
I wrote to Rishi Sunak pleading for action on Good Friday and am delighted that the Prime Minister has at last listened to the people. I welcome the decision that all planned smart motorways will be scrapped. This is a victory for common sense and safety that I whole-heartedly welcome.
The question now is what happens to the existing smart motorways? I think there is a relatively simple solution. Reinstate the hard shoulder with a permanent Red X and new lane markings. Keep the emergency areas and overhead technology. Get the police to instigate a hard-hitting lane-discipline campaign to get rid of the middle-lane hogs and free up road space.
Currently, smart motorways are not really alleviating congestion as more than one third of drivers don’t use the inside lane because they are petrified that there may be broken-down vehicles ahead.
Any incident on smart motorways causes severe congestion by closing lanes and delaying the emergency services getting through to crashes, which again puts lives at risk.
I have waited a long time for politicians to listen. Let’s hope that this decision marks the end of the deadly smart motorways."
https://www.telegrap...mart-motorways/

 

[unburntfuelinthemorning]

Every time I see a vehicle stopped on the hard shoulder with traffic flowing freely alongside it I imagine the chaos and danger there would be if it was a "smart" motorway.  I rarely actually see the results on a "smart" motorway because I won't drive on them if I can possibly avoid it.  They should get rid of the overhead technology too.  The best motorways are simple three lane roads with a hard shoulder and not much else.