Motorway move

WHEN the Highways Agency first allowed drivers to use a stretch of the hard shoulder on the M42 in the West Midlands to reduce congestion, it was met with a barrage of complaints from concerned motoring organisations and safety groups.

By The Newsroom

Published 21st May 2013, 09:18 BST

Yet the frequency and severity of accidents on the motorway has actually fallen over nine years, while journey times have improved. What’s more, all this has been delivered at a fraction of the cost of building more lanes.

This so-called “managed motorway” model has now been extended to Yorkshire, with motorists permitted to drive on the hard shoulder along a near three-mile stretch of the M62 outside Leeds used by 150,000 vehicles a day. This is a welcome show of common sense from transport planners, but it is a short-term fix rather than a long-term solution.

Even though there are plans to increase capacity on the trans-Pennine railway line, Britain’s car-dependent culture means it will only be a matter of time before road planners have to increase capacity again on the M62.