Intelligent M25 Lanes Are Live
By Monday (14th April), England’s first ‘smart motorway’ will be fully operational on junctions 23 – 25 on the M25 on both carriages.
The new scheme will be England’s first; converting the hard shoulder to a permanent traffic lane using intelligent transport systems to manage traffic flow and improve journey times.
Though other motorways have adopted similar temporary measures during peak times, the M25 will be the first permanent running lane providing 24/7 capacity.
John Martin, Highways Agency senior project manager, said: “Around £1.7 billion is being invested into roads in the south east by 2021 with 145 new lane miles of capacity added. Most of the work to improve journeys on these stretches in Hertfordshire and Kent/Surrey is complete and we are now testing the new technology.
“We are delighted to be able to open the first part of the northern section ahead of the planned full completion in December 2014. The southern section is completing significantly earlier than planned due to rescheduling of the programme.”
20 miles of the schemes will be replicated across many other motorways, giving way to a new generation of technology driven improvements to cut congestion.
The two sections are junctions 23 and 25 in Hertfordshire and between junctions 5 and 6/7 on the Kent/Surrey border. Work will be carried out to remove traffic management equipment, where a 50mph speed limit has previously been enforced.
Mr Martin continued: “Soon the smart motorway will be complete and we are now asking drivers to get smart and find out more about how to use it, the types of signs and signals they will see and what to do in the event of a breakdown. This really is the start of a new age on England’s motorways.”
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