Calls to “pause” smart motorway roll-out

Decision in March 2020 for all future smart motorways to be all-lane-running versions was "premature", MPs say

Calls to “pause” smart motorway roll-out
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MPs have called government to pause the rollout of all-lane running smart motorways until five years of safety and economic data is available and safety improvements have been delivered and independently evaluated.

The Government decision in March 2020 that all smart motorways would be all-lane-running motorways was premature, says the Transport Committee.

In a new report, The roll-out and safety of smart motorways, MPs say that safety risks on all-lane-running smart motorways should have been addressed by the government and National Highways (previously Highways England) before the motorway schemes were rolled out.

Safety improvements to all-lane running smart motorways should have been delivered in a timely fashion. Instead, promises to prioritise improvements were broken.

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The Committee concludes that the scale of safety measures needed to effectively and reliably mitigate the risks associated with the permanent removal of the hard shoulder on all-lane running motorways has been underestimated by successive Administrations, the Department for Transport and National Highways.

Chair of the Transport Committee, Huw Merriman MP, said: “The Minister for Roads described England’s all-lane-running smart motorways as ‘the most scrutinised 141 miles of road in the world’.

“It is right we do so because lives have been lost and many motorists feel unsafe using them. More action is needed to demonstrate their worth.

“Looking at the available evidence, smart motorways do appear to be safer than conventional motorways even once the hard-shoulder is removed.

“However, this evidence is also open to question. Only 29 miles of these all-lane running smart motorways have operated for over five years.

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“It therefore feels too soon, and uncertain, to use this as an evidence base to remove the hard shoulder from swathes of our motorway network.”

Until five years of safety data are available for all-lane running smart motorways introduced before 2020, the Committee calls on the Department for Transport and National Highways to pause the roll-out of all-lane running smart motorways.

Until then, safety data on new types of motorway must be treated with caution, says the Report.

The Committee previously reported on all-lane running motorways in June 2016, concluding that the trade-off on safety was an “unacceptable price to pay” for the benefits of all-lane running.

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “By the committee calling for the roll-out of all lane running smart motorways schemes to be paused, the Government would have time to evaluate a more complete set of safety data.

“The committee’s call to retrofit existing smart motorways with more refuge areas would also make these stretches of road safer than they are today, something we’ve long called for.

“But whether these and other actions are enough to convince drivers of the merits of all lane running remains to be seen.

“We’re pleased to see the committee has taken a different view over the Government’s plans to scrap dynamic hard shoulder schemes.

“We continue to believe that these schemes could in fact be made the new standard as they still offer somewhere to stop away from live traffic in the event of a breakdown during quieter times, while still accommodating more traffic at busier times.

“They have also demonstrated very good levels of safety.”

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