The day after I talked about the experimental use of the hard shoulder on motorways to alleviate traffic congestion, and stated the DfT would shortly be publishing the results of its pilot scheme on the M42, the Government made an announcement.
Government gets acive with traffic
Well the day after I talked about the experimental use of the hard shoulder on motorways to alleviate traffic congestion, and stated that the Department for Transport would shortly be publishing the results of its pilot scheme on a stretch of the M42, the Government made an announcement. Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly declared that following the successful pilot, in which journey times improved by up to a quarter and average accident rates dropped from 5.2 to 1.5 per month, the scheme would be rolled out to other parts of the country.
The M6 between junctions 4 and 5 near the Birmingham NEC and junctions 8 and 10A between the M5 link and the M54 motorway junction will be the next to benefit in a £150m scheme due for completion in 2011. Others to benefit in the future could include the M1, the M25, the M4 and the M20.
Last week I said, and I quote, “In the same way that the variable speed limits along the M25 have alleviated the notorious major hold-ups on stretches around our capital so I believe intelligent use of the hard shoulder could ease traffic hold-ups, if used in combination with variable speed limits. After all, it’s best to be rolling along at say 40mph than sitting in a jam for minutes on end.”
So what did I read last week? Speed cameras may be installed on large sections of the UK’s motorway network under Government plans to reduce congestion and vehicle emissions. The Department for Transport plans to have gantries displaying speed limits, which will be reduced to as little as 40mph depending on traffic volume. Yes, I did say 40mph!
If its latest move, known as ‘active traffic management’, is a success then motorway widening schemes could be dropped.
Last week, I concluded by saying traffic yield management could well be a key solution to our traffic nightmares. It would seem Government agrees!