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Plan for M1 hard shoulder to open to motorists



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Published Date: 16 July 2008
The entire section of the M1 through Northamptonshire could see the hard shoulder opened up for motorists to drive on.
Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly today announced a £6bn package to make better use of motorways and tackle congestion, and confirmed that the M1 from junctions 10 to 19 is being considered for hard shoulder running.

A new A421 dual carriageway linking Bedford to the M1 was also given the go-ahead, taking the scheme closer to construction starting later this year.

Mrs Kelly said: "I am determined to get the best from our road network so that motorists have reliable journey times on roads that are safe and well-managed.

"The greatest barrier to this is congestion. It is frustrating and has serious consequences for the economy and the environment.

"To achieve this we need a smarter programme of investment. This includes measures like opening the hard shoulder when traffic is at its heaviest, alongside some conventional widening where that makes best sense.

"Where we add new capacity through measures like this I am also interested to see what role car share or tolled lanes could play in helping traffic flow more smoothly."

The full article contains 202 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 16 July 2008 11:02 AM
  • Source: n/a
  • Location: Northampton
 
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Brian of Australia (Formally from Northampton),

Orelia 16/07/2008 12:02:23
I used to work on the M1 as a tow truck driver based at Rothersthorpe service area, My querry to making the Hard Shoulder a "running lane" is where do the vehicles that break down go?
2

cottoner09,

16/07/2008 13:11:35
Brian of Australia - I am having similar thoughts. Where do the tired/on the verge of a snooze continental type lorry drivers go - the real strangers who push themselves to their limits?!
3

BillingGuy,

16/07/2008 14:30:06
More importantly where do the emergency services go when there is a bad accident like the one on Tuesday and the rest of the motorway is blocked with traffic? Surely this could endanger lives when, for example, an ambulance needs to get a patient to the hospital quickly and has to weave in and out of gridlocked traffic
4

Doogle,

16/07/2008 15:17:58
Hard shoulder running is not simply letting cars use the hard shoulder to drive on. There is a huge amount of technology which monitors traffic flow and can open and close hard shoulder running for different times of the day, traffic flow, incidents etc. So when there is an accident or someone breaks down in the hard shoulder an operator watching on cctv can immediately close the hard shoulder to allow emergency vehicles along it before the road becomes gridlocked. It has been successfully trialled elsewhere in the country.
5

Roger Mellie,

In the Loo 16/07/2008 17:44:44
The foundations of he hard shoulder are only half as deep as the main carriageway. Thats why the dibble and the wombles work had to get broken down lorries etc off it ASAP. How the hell is it gonna survive constant abuse from LGVs?

Additionally, all very well saying that in the event of trouble saying an 'operator' will close it down to maintain emergency access, but where's the entwork of cameras to allow it to be monitored, who's going to monitor it, and what happens when it takes only 15 seconds for a 400 metre tailback to form in heavy traffic? The trials are debateable in the level of their 'succes' in this regard.

6

Matthew in Duston,

Northampton 16/07/2008 21:34:12
I was a regular driver on the M42 before and after similar measures were trialled there. I can report that it was a much nicer road to drive on following the implementation of these measures than it had been before - traffic flowed much more smoothly making for more relaxed driving and more reliable journey times.
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