Cost and safety concerns have led to the government’s decision to cancel the construction of all future smart highways.
14 projects—11 on hold and three scheduled for construction—will be cancelled due to finances and low public confidence.
Smart highways are stretches of roadways that utilize technology to regulate traffic flow and reduce congestion.
They also use the hard shoulder as an additional traffic channel, which critics say has contributed to road fatalities.
Existing smart motorways, which account for ten percent of England’s motorway network, will remain. And endure a previously announced safety refit to add 150 more emergency stopping places and improved technology.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who pledged to prohibit smart motorways during his leadership campaign. Stated that “all drivers deserve the confidence in the roads they use to traverse the nation.”
The Department of Transportation stated that the new schemes would have cost more than £1 billion and that their cancellation would enable for a longer period to assess public confidence in smart highways.
Seven of the fourteen cancelled projects were “all-lane running” motorways that permanently remove the hard shoulder.
They will remain “dynamic” smart motorways that can open the hard shoulder as a lane during peak traffic.
The construction of two smart motorway sections from junctions six to eight on the M56 and junctions 21a to 26 on the M6 will continue as they are already more than 75 percent complete.
Smart highways were created to increase road capacity and reduce traffic congestion without incurring additional costs or causing additional disruptions.
MPs and road safety organizations, including the AA and the RAC, have however criticized them.
Edmund King, president of the Automobile Association, hailed the decision to abandon planned smart motorways as a “victory for common sense” and called for the hard shoulder to be reinstated on existing smart motorways, along with a permanent red ‘X’ and new lane markings. He anticipated that the government’s decision would signal the end of “deadly” intelligent motorways.
He added, “We have had enough coroners render fatal and heartbreaking verdicts in cases where the absence of a hard shoulder contributed to deaths.”
Meanwhile, the RAC called the plans a “landmark announcement,” saying its study found smart motorways “extremely unpopular with drivers.”
Claire Mercer, whose husband perished on a smart motorway in South Yorkshire in 2019, applauded the decision. But pledged to continue advocating for the return of the hard shoulder on all roads.
Jason Mercer and another man, Alexandru Murgeanu, were killed when they were struck by a truck on the M1 near Sheffield after a minor collision caused them to halt in the inside lane of the smart motorway.
Mrs. Mercer remarked, “I’m ecstatic that it has been verified that the routes that are in the planning and development stages have also been canceled. I did not expect them to do that.
Therefore, this is good news, but the existing ones are killing us. I will not accept additional emergency refugee locations.”
A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats stated that it was “long overdue” to eliminate additional intelligent highways.
“The death of a loved one on these roads has turned the lives of too many families upside down”.
Labour’s transport secretary, Louise Haigh MP, stated, “We know that smart motorways with inadequate safety systems are unfit for purpose and endanger lives,” adding that ministers should “restore hard shoulders on existing smart motorways.”
Meera Naran, whose eight-year-old son was killed on a smart motorway in 2018 when the vehicle he was a passenger in was struck by a truck, described the announcement as a “huge achievement” but stated that she would continue to campaign.
She stated that smart motorways and conventional motorways “carry very different benefits and risks” and proposed combining the two models.
Ms. Naran supported “controlled motorways” that integrate smart road technology with concrete shoulders.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper stated, “Today’s announcement means that no new smart motorways will be constructed. Acknowledging the lack of public confidence felt by drivers and the inflationary cost pressures.”
