National Highways has asked drivers to ‘bear with us’ after a reduced speed limit remained on a smart motorway upgrade while safety technology is tested, two months after physical traffic management was removed.
Last summer, the government-owned company said the £244m scheme to convert the M27 between junctions 4 and 11 to all lane running would not open until stopped vehicle detection (SVD) was installed. This was a requirement of the Department for Transport’s 2020 smart motorway stocktake plan.
National Highways said at the time that it expected the upgrade to be fully open in spring 2022. In February it announced that construction had finished and that all cones would be lifted on 18 February.
It said this would allow the project to move on to the next phase of the project, testing and calibrating new technology, including SVD, with the 60mph speed limit in place in the meantime.
This week, National Highways confirmed that the lower speed limit is still in place and that testing is ongoing.
Programme director David Bray said: ‘As part of our final preparation before opening, we are undertaking work to calibrate the technology on the M27 smart motorway upgrade between Fareham and Southampton. When complete, motorists will benefit from less congestion and improved journey times on this 15-mile stretch.
‘Safety is our top priority and so we will not rush these essential preparations. The M27 is operating at full capacity – all four lanes are open – and we ask drivers to bear with us while we prepare for opening.’
The scheme is one of a number that are due to open without the reduced spacing of emergency areas set out in the 2020 stocktake, having been drawn up before the new standard came into force.
National Highways has also been criticised over continuing discharges into the protected River Hamble, which it had previously said would be addressed as part of the upgrade.
