Smart Motorways – The What and The How…

What exactly is a smart motorway?

In order to ‘reduce congestion and ease traffic flow’ and avoid the expense of an extra lane and the other issues with road widening may occur ‘smart technoilogy has been developed to meet these aims.  Smart motorways can be turned on and off – you should not use the hard shoulder (the section of road to the left marked with a solid white line) unless directed.

A smart motorway scheme includes

·      Using the hard shoulder as an additional lane

·      Installation of extra cameras for monitoring speeds and flows

·      Additional warning signs about impending hazards

Currently the M25, M1, M3 and M62 have smart sections.

Where a smart motorway is in operation an additional rule apply.

Here are the recommendations as published by the Highways agency;

• never drive under a red “X”
• keep to the speed limit shown on the gantries
• a solid white line indicates the hard shoulder – don’t drive in it unless directed.
• a broken white line indicates a normal running lane
• use the refuge areas for emergencies if there is no hard shoulder
• put your hazard lights on if you break down

You can find out more about smart motorways on the Highways Agency’s website.

The Highways Agency also have a twitter account which is @HighwaysEngland https://twitter.com/highwaysengland