Smart motorway
Smart motorways were developed at the turn of the 21st century as a cost-effective alternative to traditional carriageway widening, with intended benefits ranging from shorter journey times to lower vehicle emissions.
[6] In April 2023, the government scrapped plans for the building of all new smart motorways, citing costs and a "lack of confidence felt by drivers" as reasons for the decision.
The traffic management technique, including hard shoulder running, was first used in its full specification in the UK on the M42 motorway in the West Midlands in 2006.
[9] In 2007 plans were announced by the then secretary of state for transport, Ruth Kelly, to extend the scheme to two sections of the M6 motorway near Birmingham (4-5 and 8a-10) by 2011 at a cost of £150 million.
[15] The contract was awarded to four delivery partners Balfour Beatty, Carillion and joint ventures BAM Nuttall/Morgan Sindall and Costain Group/Serco.
[19] On 16 April 2023, the government announced that the smart motorways scheme would be halted permanently, citing "financial pressures and lack of confidence felt by drivers".
[6]: para 2.47 However, the government has subsequently reduced the specification of smart motorway design, increasing the minimum interval between refuge areas,[23] possibly decreasing the likelihood of a driver being able to reach a place of relative safety in the event of a breakdown.
[30] For comparison, before the introduction of mandatory speed limits at road works, the compliance rate was 10% as opposed to 89% afterwards, showing a similar effect.
For instance, traffic speeds tend to be more uniform, and technology is in place to monitor and notify drivers of potential hazards.
[35] However, Highways Magazine revealed that in the long-term, smart motorways may become more dangerous because the extra space they create is taken up by increased traffic.
Although there was an increase in vehicles stopping in the running lane, hazards that lead to personal injuries, such as speeding, tailgating and drifting off the carriageway, were significantly reduced.
[6]: para 2.47 According to Highways England, there is a reduction in personal injury collisions in 'places of relative safety' (i.e. not in an operational traffic lane) when ALR is in use.
[6]: para 2.49 However, the Government has reduced the specification of smart motorway design, increasing the minimum interval between refuge areas,[23] possibly decreasing the likelihood of a driver being able to reach a place of relative safety.
[10] Highways England argue that ATM reduces the environmental impact in regards to widening as it is carried out within the existing boundaries of the motorway as well as a possible improvement in local air quality due to smoother traffic flow.
[40] The RAC cited a study in the Netherlands that showed drivers using the hard shoulder when they were not permitted, increasing the risk of a collision for vehicles stopped.
[28] The scheme has attracted criticism from motoring organisations such as the AA, who in 2018 reported that many members were concerned that speed limits were being imposed without good cause in situations where traffic was light.
[42] In response, Highways England stated that they had "started a comprehensive review of how variable speed limits are set, including the amount of time they are visible to drivers".
[42] A campaign "Smart Motorways Kill" was set up in 2019 after the death of Jason Mercer and Alexandru Murgeanu on the M1 northbound near junction 34.
The campaign is bringing a judicial review against Highways England to have smart motorways banned and they have also reported H.E to the police for criminal manslaughter.
In January 2020, it was announced that a review was planned after freedom of information requests showed that near misses had increased up to 20-fold, and that 38 people had died.
[45][46] A BBC Panorama programme aired on 27 January 2020 found that smart motorways had caused multiple deaths in the UK, and that the conversion of part of the M25 to "all-lane running" yielded a 2000% increase in hazardous "near misses".
[47][failed verification] On 28 January 2020 Police Federation of England and Wales chief, reported The Times newspaper, John Apter said he "did not like the term 'smart motorways'" because it infers that they are a good idea.
[50][51] The same year, the government announced the retrofitting of the entire network with radar and improved cameras, and paused the construction of any more smart motorways until this was implemented.
The Transport Secretary at the time, Mark Harper, cited "the lack of public confidence felt by drivers and the cost pressures due to inflation".
In April 2024, the safety of smart motorways was again brought into question when it was revealed that the technology used to detect broken down vehicles was often failing.
The map in this section visually represents the operational and under construction elements of the UK's smart motorway system as of June 2017.
In October 2019, the chief executive of Highways England told MPs that the company has no plans to introduce the configuration to any further section of motorway, after admitting that motorists found the setup 'too confusing' to use.
Isolated stretches on a smart motorway where the hard shoulder becomes a permanent running lane through a junction and immediately surrounding the slip roads.
[109] Sections of the M1 in Leicestershire and Yorkshire were also billed to receive undescribed 'capacity improvements' in the third road period beginning in 2025,[109] though these have also been withdrawn as part of the April 2023 announcement that construction of new smart motorways was being halted.
The Welsh Government believed that changing to a fixed limit would better reduce congestion and improve the quality of the air in the town.
