Skip to main content

UK driver information improvements near completion

A major investment in technology to help tackle congestion and give better information to drivers across parts of the UK’s north west will be completed by the Highways Agency by the end of the month. Improvements worth more than US$8.5 million, with extended CCTV coverage of the region’s motorways and new electronic variable message signs (VMS), are being delivered by the Highways Agency as part of the Government’ US$470 million pinch point programme. Work on installing new electronic signs and CCTV c
March 27, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
A major investment in technology to help tackle congestion and give better information to drivers across parts of the UK’s north west will be completed by the 503 Highways Agency by the end of the month.

Improvements worth more than US$8.5 million, with extended CCTV coverage of the region’s motorways and new electronic variable message signs (VMS), are being delivered by the Highways Agency as part of the Government’ US$470 million pinch point programme.

Work on installing new electronic signs and CCTV cameras, which will give Highways Agency traffic officers and partner organisations like the police better intelligence on incidents and queues, started at the end of last year and is due to be completed by 31 March.

The schemes, due for completion at the end of the month, are in addition to technology schemes already delivered through the Pinch Point programme on the M6 at junction 33 and junction 35 around Lancaster where new electronic signs have been installed to give drivers better warning of hazards, incidents and congestion. New VMS signs are also currently being installed at both ends of the A590 in Cumbria.

Highways Agency project manager Philip Tyrrell said: “These new electronic signs will give better information to drivers when there is congestion and incidents. The extended CCTV coverage will ensure we have better intelligence and allow our traffic officers and partners to provide an even more effective response to incidents and congestion – boosting safety and journey times.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Road and rail projects to boost local and regional transport
    December 13, 2013
    Dozens of UK towns and cities are set to benefit from government funding to tackle congested local roads and improve key points in the strategic road network, as well as new initiatives to drive forward rail electrification. Measures announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin include US$80 million from the Local Pinch Point Fund for 25 congestion-busting local roads schemes, building on 87 already announced this year; confirmation of nearly US$181 million for the M6-Heysham link road, along with
  • Major road projects to improve journeys in Merseyside and Cheshire
    September 1, 2017
    Two major new road schemes worth more than US$388 million (£300 million) are set to cut congestion and improve journey times for hundreds of thousands of drivers in Merseyside and Cheshire, UK. Highways England has set out its preferred options for upgrading the key route to the Port of Liverpool and creating a new junction on the M56 near Runcorn following public consultations earlier this year.
  • London invests in bus priority schemes to help keep bus passengers moving
    January 26, 2016
    With London’s roads seeing an increase in congestion due to a construction boom and a significant growth in population, Transport for London is investing heavily in helping keep the roads moving through a range of means. Part of this programme is designed to help buses get through congested areas quicker and more reliably. A US$284 million investment in new bus priority schemes in the capital includes changes to road layouts and junctions and enabling small changes to routes so that buses can avoid traff
  • Roadside monitoring used to target non-compliant trucks
    March 9, 2016
    The UK’s DVSA is utilising existing technology to identify non-compliant commercial vehicles and target repeat offenders while avoiding law-abiding companies. Enforcing the compliance of commercial vehicles (goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and vehicles with eight or more passenger seats) on the UK’s roads is the responsibility of the DVSA (the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). The Department for Transport created the executive agency about 18 months ago by merging the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and t