Stretch of M1 in Leicestershire earmarked for smart motorway upgrade

An area of the M1 through Leicestershire has been earmarked for safety improvements to the smart motorway. Junction 23A to junction 25 in Northamptonshire is among eleven stretches of the carriageway identified as needing an upgrade. The M1 upgrade will create emergency areas where drivers can stop in a bid to make smart motorways safer.

It follows the Government's announcement in April that it was scrapping planned projects to build all-lane running (ALR) smart motorways[1] that use the hard shoulder as a live traffic lane. Work is already underway on doubling the number of emergency areas on the M1 in South Yorkshire, which alongside the newly announced locations, brings the total to 150. It is part of a GBP900 million scheme aimed at improving the network by 2025, while a total of GBP105 million is being spent on improving operational technology.

The additional emergency areas will be on:

• - M1 junction 16 to 19 in Northamptonshire
• - M1 junction 23a to 25 in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire
• - M1 junction 28 to 30 and 30 to 31 in Derbyshire
• - M3 junction 2 to 4a in Surrey and Hampshire
• - M4 junction 10 to 12 in Berkshire
• - M5 junction 4a to 6 in Worcestershire
• - M6 junction 21a to 26 in Cheshire
• - M20 junction 3 to 5 in Kent
• - M25 junction 5 to 7 in Surrey and Kent
• - M27 junction 4 to 11 in Hampshire

The Government scrapped its previous smart motorway plans[3] due to financial pressures and a lack of public confidence. Independent road safety campaigner, Meera Naran was among those against the schemes using the hardshoulders as live lanes[4] after her eight-year-old son Dev, died in a crash on the smart motorway on the M6 in 2018. His was one of 11 deaths on smart motorways in 2018 - a figure that rose to 15 in 2019.

Meera vowed to continue to campaign until the figure dropped to zero. Meanwhile, president of the AA motoring group[5], Edmund King, is also calling for hard shoulders to be reinstated on all motorways, while welcoming the latest development.

He said: "The fundamental problem remains that stopped vehicle incidents are more frequent on all-lane running 'smart' motorways compared to motorways with hard shoulders. "To address this, the hard shoulder needs to be reinstated or at the very least the number of emergency areas needs to be radically increased.

The prospect of breaking down or stopping in a live lane is daunting as our AA call centre operators who take the distressed calls can confirm. "The advice remains that if you break down in a live lane and can't exit the vehicle safely via the passenger seat, you should keep your seat belt on, put on hazard lights and other lights and dial 999. It is an emergency.

We welcomed the scrapping of new 'smart' motorways but even with the progress made with new technology on existing ones, more needs to be done to reduce the dangers of live lane stops. "We have called for more 'controlled motorways', which the report shows have lower killed or serious injury rates (KSI) than all-lane running (1.31 compared to 1.43). These motorways have the benefit of 'smart' motorway technology whilst also having a hard shoulder."

Get the latest traffic news from our sister site In Your Area[6] Nick Harris, chief executive of National Highways[7], said: "Safety is our highest priority and we are committed to further improving all-lane running motorways. "We have completed key upgrades to improve the performance of technology to detect stopped vehicles, and today we have set out the next sections of motorway to benefit from the programme to install more than 150 extra emergency areas to give drivers added reassurance.

"We are also continuing to invest GBP105 million to improve the resilience of our operational technology systems." A National Highways spokesman said the report "includes the safety evidence (2017 to 2021), which continues to show that overall, all three types of smart motorway are safer than conventional motorways in terms of deaths or serious injuries". He added: "Together, the investment in extra emergency areas, along with additional technology like stopped vehicle detection (SVD), better and more signs for emergency areas, and more information about smart motorways online and in an updated Highway Code, aims to help road users feel even safer and more confident on the strategic road network."

Get the latest breaking news and top stories from Leicestershire in our daily newsletter[8]

References

1. ^ scrapping planned projects to build all-lane running (ALR) smart motorways (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
2. ^ Woman, 18, dies after serious crash on A426 (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
3. ^ previous smart motorway plans (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
4. ^ Meera Naran was among those against the schemes using the hardshoulders as live lanes (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
5. ^ president of the AA motoring group (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
6. ^ Get the latest traffic news from our sister site In Your Area (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
7. ^ chief executive of National Highways (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
8. ^ Get the latest breaking news and top stories from Leicestershire in our daily newsletter (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)