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The Highways Agency has published its plan for the next year, with an increasing emphasis on using technology to maximise capacity of the current road network – and with very few plans for road expansion schemes.
New tech includes ‘Active Traffic Management’ – which has already been trialled on the M25 and M42 – plus queue detection systems and a planned increase in the number of message display boards that have already started to proliferate across the motorway network. Indeed, the 44-page report waits until page 31 to actually mention any major road improvement schemes.
The good news is that the next three years should see 15 schemes, including widening the M1 between Junction 6a and Junction 10, and starting work building the four-mile Hindhead link, which will finally complete the dual carriageway between London and Portsmouth.
The report also confirms the extension of the trial conducted on parts of the M42 and M6 to allow drivers to use the hard shoulder at peak times.
The most sensible initiative is probably the proposal to restrict lorries from overtaking on certain heavily congested stretches of dual carriageway, something that has worked successfully in other European countries for years.
Nick Cackett
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