News: Work completed on M1
Work has been completed on the construction of 41 new emergency areas ahead of schedule between junctions 28 and 35A of the M1.
It means that speed limits, previously restricted to address air quality concerns, return to 70mph.
All-lane running became operational in the region and open to traffic in 2017 with the section in Rotherham and Sheffield designated as Britain's first ever Air Quality "Speed Limit" based motorway and a trial of 60mph speed limits came into force.
The trial completed last year but further work has been carried out after "smart motorways" came under scrutiny.
In 2023 the government confirmed that plans for new smart motorways would be cancelled in recognition of the "lack of public confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures." The government and National Highways also said that it would continue to invest £900m in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways.
Advertisement
Costain, the infrastructure solutions company working as part of SMP Alliance, has completed the work on the National Emergency Area Retrofit (NEAR) programme, a £390m investment plan which, along with technology like stopped vehicle detection, aims to improve safety on the road network.
The emergency areas are stationed at regular intervals along the motorway where there isn’t a permanent hard shoulder, offering a safe place for road users to stop in an emergency. Each area is approximately 100 metres long and is clearly marked in orange tarmac and blue signs with an orange SOS telephone symbol.
The 32-mile stretch of road, which carries more than 200,000 vehicles a day, is now fully open for traffic at the national speed limit.
Jacky Li, Project director at Costain, said: "Our work will improve the resilience of the local road network, and the additional emergency areas will increase safety, reduce disruption and improve mobility for road users for many years to come, helping to drive prosperity across Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.”
Costain website
Images: Costain
It means that speed limits, previously restricted to address air quality concerns, return to 70mph.
All-lane running became operational in the region and open to traffic in 2017 with the section in Rotherham and Sheffield designated as Britain's first ever Air Quality "Speed Limit" based motorway and a trial of 60mph speed limits came into force.
The trial completed last year but further work has been carried out after "smart motorways" came under scrutiny.
In 2023 the government confirmed that plans for new smart motorways would be cancelled in recognition of the "lack of public confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures." The government and National Highways also said that it would continue to invest £900m in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways.
Advertisement
Costain, the infrastructure solutions company working as part of SMP Alliance, has completed the work on the National Emergency Area Retrofit (NEAR) programme, a £390m investment plan which, along with technology like stopped vehicle detection, aims to improve safety on the road network.
The emergency areas are stationed at regular intervals along the motorway where there isn’t a permanent hard shoulder, offering a safe place for road users to stop in an emergency. Each area is approximately 100 metres long and is clearly marked in orange tarmac and blue signs with an orange SOS telephone symbol.
The 32-mile stretch of road, which carries more than 200,000 vehicles a day, is now fully open for traffic at the national speed limit.
Jacky Li, Project director at Costain, said: "Our work will improve the resilience of the local road network, and the additional emergency areas will increase safety, reduce disruption and improve mobility for road users for many years to come, helping to drive prosperity across Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.”
Costain website
Images: Costain
2 comments:
This is excellent news as it will cut my travel time down when I visit the Glassworks, which is very often.
Captain Glassworks
Grow up
Post a Comment