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

  • Section speed enforcements gains global converts
    October 26, 2017
    As the benefits of section speed enforcement are becoming clearer, the technology is gaining converts worldwide. Colin Sowman reports. America’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is calling for urgent action from both road authorities and the federal government to combat speeding which has been identified as one of the most common factors in motor vehicle crashes in the United States. This new call follows the publication of a safety study which found that between 2005 through 2014, 31% of all
  • Hikvision passes history exam
    October 13, 2020
    Hikvision technology is being used in the ancient walled city of Xi’an, historical seat of the Tang Dynasty, to boost traffic flow – and it seems to be helping in China’s new high-tech hub
  • Mayor unveils expanded traffic-busting plans to keep London moving
    September 30, 2015
    The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has unveiled the new measures Transport for London (TfL) is introducing to ease traffic in the capital and minimise disruption on the roads as major work to improve the network continues as part of the Mayor’s US$6 billion Road Modernisation Plan. The innovations include: Trials of new technology - for the first time on the TfL road network a new generation of digital road signs will provide people with real-time information on journeys using major routes into London.
  • Connected vehicle trials get big backing from USDOT
    March 14, 2016
    Connected vehicle technology will emerge as a sustainable reality at three sites in the US over the next four years. Jon Masters reports. Advocates of connected vehicle (CV) technology have received a welcome boost from news that the US government has committed a further $4 billion towards automated vehicle research and CV technology. This comes hot on the heels of the US Department of Transportation’s $42 million CV pilot pledge in October last year.