New smart motorway plans have been axed, government confirms

The building of all new smart motorways across the UK has been cancelled over cost and safety concerns, according to Downing Street.

Around 14 planned schemes, including 11 already halted and three set for construction, have now all been scrapped due to finances and low public confidence.

Smart motorways are where technology is used to help regulate the flow of traffic to ease congestion. The hard shoulder may also be used as an extra lane, which critics claim has led to road deaths.

Existing stretches will remain but will be subjected to a refit so that more emergency stopping places can be added, to help improve safety with the loss of a hard shoulder.

About 10% of England’s motorway network is made up of smart motorways. They involve various methods to manage the flow of traffic, including converting the hard shoulder into a live lane.

They were introduced in England in 2014 to ease congestion – and there are 375 miles of smart motorway, including 235 miles with no hard shoulder.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in his campaign pledge, as reported in The Telegraph: “All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country.

“That’s why last year I pledged to stop the building of all new smart motorways, and today I’m making good on that promise.

“Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, to take their children to school and go about their daily lives, and I want them to be able to do so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe.”

The Department for Transport said the new schemes would have cost more than £1bn, and cancelling them would allow time to track public trust in smart motorways over a longer period.

Smart motorways were developed to create more capacity and cut congestion on roads, without spending money and causing disruption building news ones. However, they have been criticised by MPs and road safety bodies, including the AA and RAC.

Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s transport secretary, said: “We know smart motorways, coupled with inadequate safety systems, are not fit for purpose and are putting lives at risk”, adding that ministers should ‘reinstate hard shoulders on existing smart motorways’.

Edmund King, president of the AA, told the BBC he welcomed the government’s move calling it ‘victory for common sense’, but said it needed to go further and restore a permanent hard shoulder to 375 miles of existing smart motorways.

He said: “Basically, drivers don’t trust them, the technology is not foolproof, and 37% of breakdowns on smart motorways happen in live lanes. And basically those drivers are sitting ducks.

Adding: “We have had enough coroners passing down their deadly and heart-breaking judgments where the lack of a hard shoulder has contributed to deaths”.

Meanwhile, the RAC called the plans a ‘watershed announcement’, saying its research showed that smart motorways were ‘deeply unpopular with drivers’.