Skip to main content

Variable speed limits to be introduced in Scotland

Motorists using the M90 in Scotland will face the country’s first variable speed limits in three weeks time when a new traffic control system is launched on the road north of the Forth Road Bridge. The intelligent transport system, which goes live on 4 December on the M90 northbound, has been installed as part of construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing, which is due to open in four years time. Speeds will be automatically lowered by traffic sensors under the road surface when they detect congestion,
November 15, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Motorists using the M90 in Scotland will face the country’s first variable speed limits in three weeks time when a new traffic control system is launched on the road north of the Forth Road Bridge.

The intelligent transport system, which goes live on 4 December on the M90 northbound, has been installed as part of construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing, which is due to open in four years time.

Speeds will be automatically lowered by traffic sensors under the road surface when they detect congestion, to smooth traffic flow and reduce delays.

The system will also operate on the M90 southbound and on the M9, south of the Forth Road Bridge, from early next year. Similar systems are in use on the M25 around London and M42 near Birmingham.

Transport minister Keith Brown said: “The Forth Replacement Crossing continues to progress on time and on budget and I’m delighted that we can now begin to turn on the ITS systems to help manage and improve traffic flow and provide buses with a dedicated lane.”

Related Content

  • Just Zip it! Lindsay takes to the road
    October 10, 2018
    Greater vehicle connectivity is going to have huge implications for traffic management. David Arminas climbed aboard a Lindsay Road Zipper to see what this might mean in future As vice president of barrier specialist QMB Canada, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost
  • 20mph to be new limit in Wales
    July 14, 2022
    Welsh government move receives cross-party support to create lower default speed limit
  • ITS solutions to keep truck traffic moving
    June 8, 2015
    David Crawford reviews freight management initiatives. Managing truck traffic to minimise its environmental impacts, without adversely impacting on its critical economic role, continues to drive ITS-based solutions in both urban and interurban contexts.
  • Europe’s road safety gains have stagnated EU
    March 17, 2017
    Europe will fail to meet its road death targets as enforcement budgets are slashed and drivers face an epidemic of distractions. The European Union will not achieve its aim of halving the number of people killed on its roads each year by 2020, delegates to Tispol’s (the organisation of European traffic police) annual conference in Manchester were told. “The target will be missed because there was only a 17% decrease in road fatalities across Europe between 2010 and 2015 when [the rate of reduction] should h