The latest Stocktake Report into the protection of ‘good’ motorways has renewed requires the reinstatement of the arduous shoulder. The report from Nationwide Highways, together with evaluation from the Workplace of Highway and Rail (ORR), has strengthened fears that eradicating arduous shoulders has made motorways extra harmful, reasonably than bettering security and visitors circulation as initially meant.
AA president Edmund King stated the most recent knowledge offered by Nationwide Highways reveals that a number of sections of ‘All Lane Working’ (ALR) motorways on the M1 now have a better price of individuals killed or critically injured (KSI) than earlier than the arduous shoulder was eliminated. He additionally pointed to failures in radar detection expertise, which is meant to alert management rooms when automobiles break down in stay lanes.
“Shockingly, the M62 between Junctions 10 and 12 suffered a system failure for nearly a month,” King stated. “This lack of security expertise, which drivers have been requested to place their belief in, meant they had been put in pointless hazard. It’s little surprise {that a} third of drivers say they really feel much less secure on good motorways in comparison with three years in the past.”
Rising considerations and repeated failures
The newest Stocktake follows a survey by the AA of greater than 13,500 drivers, which discovered that three in 5 need ‘good’ motorways to be scrapped and transformed again to conventional motorways with a everlasting arduous shoulder. Simply 11% supported protecting the community in its present state.
The research highlighted that drivers really feel considerably much less secure on ‘good’ motorways, notably the place the arduous shoulder is typically used as a working lane at peak instances. These stretches of highway had been rated the least secure, with 34% of drivers saying they felt “rather a lot much less secure” in comparison with three years in the past.
Further knowledge from the ORR revealed {that a} third of radar detection methods examined failed to satisfy the required security commonplace, with two failing and deteriorating additional over a 12-month interval. King stated the failures additional show that the ‘good’ motorway system shouldn’t be match for goal.
AA says ‘good’ motorway experiment has failed
The AA has been warning in regards to the risks of ‘good’ motorways since their introduction in 2010, and the most recent findings reinforce the organisation’s long-held view that the scheme has been a failure.
In 2020, the federal government pledged nearly £1 billion to enhance security by putting in 150 extra emergency refuge areas to scale back the gap between them from 1.5 miles to 0.75 miles. Nonetheless, solely half of those upgrades have been accomplished, with work nonetheless ongoing on key sections of the M1, M3, M4, M5, M20 and M25.
King stated the proof is now overwhelming. “It’s time to settle for that so-called ‘good’ motorways have failed and to facet with the vast majority of drivers who need the reinstatement of the arduous shoulder,” he stated.
The federal government has already halted additional enlargement of ‘good’ motorways, however with the most recent Stocktake confirming rising security considerations and ongoing system failures, strain is mounting for ministers to take the subsequent step and start reversing the controversial scheme.
