Exclusive: A quarter of smart motorway schemes fall below safety benchmark16/04/2024 One in four stopped vehicle detection installations on smart motorways still failed to meet National Highways’ core performance requirements when re-tested last year. |
National Highways makes push on smart motorway emergency areas15/04/2024 National Highways has announced plans to install 52 new emergency areas (EAs) on smart motorways in the South East as it faces a battle to meet a promise of 150 by next year. |
14-month long major works on M4/M5 open in time for Easter27/03/2024 Work to improve safety on the M4 and M5 around Bristol is nearly complete, with roadworks on the M4 set to be removed ahead of the Easter getaway, National Highways has said. |
Harris: Smart motorway refuge planning 'very advanced'24/01/2024 National Highways boss Nick Harris has told MPs that the government-owned company has still only retrofitted 13 emergency areas (EAs) on smart motorways but insisted he is ‘confident’ of meeting the target of 150 by next March. |
Stopped vehicle detection hits target but 85% of testing data unusable18/12/2023 National Highways has made significant progress on smart motorway safety according to a new report from the roads monitor however concerns remain about the strength of the underlying testing data. |
M56 smart motorway 'positive progress' kept under wraps29/06/2023 National Highways’ delayed all lane running smart motorway scheme on the M56 is now operating at the national speed limit but the government-owned company has not said what level of performance its stopped vehicle detection has delivered. |
M1 smart motorway to get another 12 emergency areas31/05/2023 National Highways will begin work in June to add 12 emergency areas on an all lane running smart motorway stretch of the M1 in South Yorkshire. |
RIS 3: National Highways outlines plans to Government18/05/2023 A new National Highways report says its will focus on making the most of its existing network with an 'increased focus on smaller £2-25m schemes' but mega projects are set to still dominate RIS 3. |
Convert smart motorways to controlled motorways, ITS expert says16/05/2023 A leading intelligent transport systems (ITS) expert has suggested that all existing smart motorway designs should be converted into controlled motorways. |
Coroner calls for action after smart motorway fatality03/05/2023 A coroner has called on National Highways to take action to prevent future deaths on all lane running smart motorways following the death of a passenger in a car that was hit by a lorry in a live lane. |
Emergency area roll-out making slow progress20/04/2023 National Highways has so far added just 13 more emergency areas (EAs) to all lane running smart motorways but says it is ‘confident’ that it will meet its commitment to add a total of 150 by 2025. |
Drivers want hard shoulder back, RAC says19/04/2023 Seven in 10 drivers want the hard shoulder to be reinstated on the 235 miles of existing all lane running smart motorways, according to new research by the RAC. |
New smart motorway schemes scrapped17/04/2023 Prime minister Rishi Sunak has scrapped plans for new all-lane running smart motorways ‘given financial pressures and in recognition of the current lack of public confidence felt by drivers’. |
No new smart motorways, 'contractors told'06/04/2023 Reports are circulating that the smart motorway programme is quietly being cancelled for good, with contractors apparently told not to expect further work. |
M56 'smart motorway' makes it over the line29/03/2023 National Highways has opened a new stretch of 'smart motorway' on a scheme that edged into completion just before the Department for Transport put a temporary ban on the controversial road design. |
National Highways 'urgently investigates' smart motorway tech crashes22/02/2023 National Highways has said it is ‘urgently investigating’ an unplanned outage of the traffic management system across most of its smart network on Wednesday morning. |
Smart motorway safety tech roll-out 'incomplete'26/01/2023 National Highways has failed to get stopped vehicle detection technology working properly on any section of all lane running (ALR) smart motorway to which it was retrofitted, including new ALR schemes that it pledged not to open without the technology, Highways can reveal. |
Smart motorway failings 'simply unacceptable'15/12/2022 National Highways needs to urgently improve the operation of stopped vehicle detection technology, which is missing one in three live lane stops, the company’s official monitor has said. |
King calls for pilot to reverse all lane running14/12/2022 The president of the AA has called on ministers to run a pilot project to restore the hard shoulder on an all lane running (ALR) smart motorway with a ‘lane discipline’ campaign to encourage drivers to make best use of the remaining three lanes. |
Exclusive: ORR turned blind eye to smart motorway target switch01/12/2022 National Highways’ official monitor has admitted that it was aware that the government-owned company had moved the goalposts on one of its key smart motorway safety pledges, and now claims to be ‘holding it to account’ against the watered-down target. |
Comment: The Highways Act (Amendment) Bill - reasonable versus possible
DfT calls on Treasury to bring Network North cash forward
