National Highways gearing up for busy Christmas period as millions of cars set to hit roads
National Highways teams are getting ready for a busy Christmas period across the roads in the South West. They are gearing up to keep delays to a minimum over the region, including on key roads such as the M5 and the M4. Last year, National Highways officers attended around 400 incidents on Christmas Day.
Traffic and travel experts from the AA previously issued a two-day Amber Traffic Warning[1] for this Friday (December 22) and Saturday as around 16 million cars are expected to hit the nation’s roads. Traffic officers will be supported by National Highways duty operations manager, Ray Morwood, in the South West this year. He will be working in the South West Operations Centre in Aztec West.
Ray said: “No two days are ever the same and the job is unpredictable by nature, but even more so on Christmas Day. “In previous years when I’ve worked over Christmas it’s actually been very busy for various reasons. We’re always acutely aware that people don’t like being caught in congestion, especially on Christmas day, so we work hard behind-the-scenes to get people moving as safely and as quickly as possible.
“We will never willingly close a road because we understand the significance of people using our network. However, we still have a role to play in keeping people safe and if the emergency services require a closure to deal with an incident, we’re there to make sure that happens safely with as little disruption as possible for drivers. “You never know what to expect and our staff, both out on-road and in control rooms, will be on hand 24/7 and ready to respond to all eventualities to ensure everyone using our network gets to where they need to safe and well.”
National Highways duty operations manager Ray Morwood is in the festive spirit (Image: National Highways)
An army of staff will also be working throughout Christmas at the National Traffic Operations Centre (NTOC) near Birmingham.
Their job is to make sure any incidents on England’s major A-road and motorway network don’t cause widespread gridlock across the country. National incident liaison officer, Megan Cartwright, will be on shift Christmas morning from 6am to 2pm. She said: “I will start my shift at around 5.45am and finish around 2pm which is a key part of the day because will be up and about to make journeys to see friends and family.
“Our social media channels play a key part in helping people to plan their journeys and we update them constantly to make sure everyone has the very latest information from us. “I enjoy working on Christmas morning because there’s a real sense of teamwork here and people will often bring in food to make a breakfast. The sense of comradery is really great, and you feel part of an extended family.
National incident liaison officer Megan Cartwright will be on shift Christmas morning (Image: National Highways)
“I’ll be home in the afternoon so I can spend time with my family and that’s when I’ll see my mother because she is also working on Christmas Day.
As a family, we’ve become accustomed to people working shift patterns, but we always make sure we spend time to mark the occasion.”
References
- ^ AA previously issued a two-day Amber Traffic Warning (www.bristolpost.co.uk)