Skip to main content

UK’s M6 to get VMS to boost safety

Four of the latest variable message signs (VMS) are to be installed around junction 35 of the M6 motorway at Carnforth, giving drivers better warnings of incidents and other information about the motorway such as weather conditions. As part of the work, new CCTV cameras will be mounted on the VMS signs and standalone masts, allowing Highways Agency traffic officers at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows to monitor and manage motorway incidents more effectively. A similar, US$2
November 18, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Four of the latest variable message signs (VMS) are to be installed around junction 35 of the M6 motorway at Carnforth, giving drivers better warnings of incidents and other information about the motorway such as weather conditions.

As part of the work, new CCTV cameras will be mounted on the VMS signs and standalone masts, allowing 503 Highways Agency traffic officers at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows to monitor and manage motorway incidents more effectively.

A similar, US$2.6 million project to provide new VMS and CCTV cameras around junction 33 of the M6 at Galgate was delivered earlier this year.

Highways Agency project manager Dan Foster said: “This significant investment in technology along this section of the M6 in Lancashire is being delivered through the Government’s pinch point programme and will boost the amount and frequency of information we can give to motorway users, helping to provide safer and more reliable journeys.

“The better intelligence provided by the additional cameras will also make it easier for Highways Agency traffic officers and partners like the police to respond to and manage incidents – again boosting safety and journey reliability.”

The new signs and cameras will be placed a mile and half a mile in each direction from junction 35 with two more cameras erected on standalone masts.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Government publishes programme of upgrades to major roads and motorways
    June 30, 2017
    The UK government has unveiled a US$8 billion (£6.1 billion) programme of road improvements as part of its US$30 billion (£23 billion) upgrade to the road network in England.
  • Inrix expands traffic data programme collaboration
    October 12, 2012
    Nearly a year after the I-95 Corridor Coalition, the University of Maryland (UMD) and Inrix announced a three-year expansion of the Vehicle Probe Project (VPP), the coalition and its partners are expanding their collaboration once again. Through a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Awards Grant, the coalition will use Inrix traffic information to expand coverage to over 40,000 miles of roads across fourteen states.
  • Enforcement suppliers highlight industry best practice
    March 15, 2012
    Major suppliers of enforcement technology highlight the countries, regions or cities that they consider to be leading the way in reduction of road traffic violations. The French government’s ambitious programme of enforcing traffic law violations has proven to be an unrivalled success and is continuing to bring improvements in road safety with innovative enforcement technology.
  • Inrix real time traffic and travel information for UK roads
    October 24, 2012
    Inrix used the 19th ITS World Congress to announce that it has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by Network Information Services (NIS) in the UK to provide real-time traffic speed and travel time information for the Highways Agency’s National Traffic Information Service (NTIS).