Pausing the rollout of all lane running (ALR) smart motorway schemes is in line with the recommendations of the House of Commons transport committee report from last November.
“Having carefully considered the committee’s report, I will be taking forward all of its recommendations. This includes the recommendation to pause the rollout of future ALR smart motorway schemes until a full five years’ worth of safety data is available.
“During the pause, we will continue to make sure all existing ALR smart motorways are equipped with best-in-class technology and resources and are as safe as they can possibly be.”
In line with the transport committee’s recommendations, the rollout of new smart motorways will be paused until five years’ of data becomes available for schemes introduced before 2020. After this point, the government will assess the data before deciding next steps.
In the meantime, £900m is being allocated to making existing smart motorways safer, including £390m to install 150 additional emergency areas. This will represent around a 50% increase in places to stop by 2025.
One of Grant Shapps’ first actions on becoming transport secretary in 2019 was to order a stocktake of smart motorways, which concluded that it would be wrong to restore hard shoulders where they have been converted to all lane running, but that more refuge areas needed to be put in the system, as originally specified. It also concluded that those stretches of motorway with a ‘dynamic’ hard shoulder – allowing traffic to run on them in peak periods – should be made all lane running, with the hard shoulder in permanent use to avoid confusing motorists. However, this programme of work is also now being suspended until at least 2025, when the third five-year Road Investment Strategy regulatory period (RIS3) begins.
The transport select committee said in its November report that the Department for Transport (DfT) and National Highways were continuing to remove hard shoulders with only an incomplete safety assessment. They said that more data should be collected before any more decisions are made on the programme. Grant Shapps has agreed.
While further data is being collected, National Highways will continue work to complete schemes that are currently in construction, which will all open with technology in place to detect stopped vehicles. These schemes are all more than 50% completed and halting progress on them now would cause significant disruption for drivers, the DfT said.
Design work will also continue on those schemes already being planned, so they are ready to be constructed depending on the outcome of the pause. No preparatory construction work will take place.
National Highways chief executive Nick Harris said: “We have listened to public concerns about smart motorways and we are fully committed to taking forward the additional measures the transport committee has recommended.
“While we pause those all lane running schemes yet to start construction, we will complete the schemes currently in construction. We will make existing sections as safe as they can possibly be and we will step up our advice to drivers so they have all the information they need.”
Transport committee chair Huw Merriman MP said: “This is the committee’s second inquiry into smart motorways. Back in 2016, our concerns about safety were not addressed. Assurances were given and not delivered. This time, ministers have accepted all our key recommendations and we welcome today’s response.
“It was clear to our committee that the public needs more reassurance that these motorways are safe to use. With conflicting and patchy evidence covering a limited number of years, more time was required to properly assess the impact on safety. By accepting our recommendation to pause the rollout of smart motorways, the government will have the weight of evidence to assist planning for future road building design.
“It is important that this extra time is not just spent on evaluation – it must be focused on making smart motorways safer. The existing network of smart motorways must be improved to deliver more emergency refuge areas and better technology to close live lanes and reduce the risk for stranded motorists. The addition of £390m is a welcome statement of intent.
“The secretary of state for transport and the roads minister deserve credit for revisiting the 2020 stocktake and action plan and aiming for higher standards by accepting the recommendations in our report. The transport committee undertakes to track the performance of the government’s actions. It is imperative that the Department delivers on the actions it has promised. With today’s response, the government has demonstrated it shares our concerns and determination to make these motorways safer.”
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