M25 upgraded to ‘smart’ motorway

Road users on the vast majority of the UK’s M25 will benefit from four-lane capacity now that the final section between junctions 25 and 27 has become a smart motorway. The road has been upgraded from three to four lanes in each direction, with the hard shoulder converted for use as a permanent traffic lane and enhanced on-road technology to manage traffic flow to improve the reliability of journey times, providing a boost for businesses and the wider economy.
November 10, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

Road users on the vast majority of the UK’s M25 will benefit from four-lane capacity now that the final section between junctions 25 and 27 has become a smart motorway. The road has been upgraded from three to four lanes in each direction, with the hard shoulder converted for use as a permanent traffic lane and enhanced on-road technology to manage traffic flow to improve the reliability of journey times, providing a boost for businesses and the wider economy.

The improvements on all sections of the M25 are part of a new generation of technology-driven improvements on the strategic road network known as ‘smart motorways’ with the permanent conversion of the hard shoulder for traffic, providing 24/7 extra capacity. The new infrastructure and technology that has been added between junctions 25 and 27 includes gantries spanning both carriageways, refuge areas, emergency telephones, overhead signals, verge-mounted signs and CCTV cameras.

Roads minister John Hayes said: “This upgrade is great news for 140,000 motorists who use this section of the M25 every day. It will mean smoother journeys, less congestion and provide a real boost to those businesses US$38 billion commitment to improve Britain’s roads by 2021 is helping to deliver a smarter motorway network that drives forward our economy and gets people to their destinations safely and on time.”

John Martin, 503 Highways Agency project manager said: “The new smart motorway will provide extra capacity and offer more reliable journeys. I would like to ask drivers to get smart and find out more about how to use it, the types of signs and signals they will see and what to do in the unlikely event of a breakdown."

Detection, Monitoring & Machine Vision

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Q&A: IBTTA president Mark Compton
    January 20, 2021
    Mark Compton is CEO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in Middletown, PA. IBTTA's Bill Cramer sat down with Mark to learn a bit more about his background and interests
    Read More
  • Will the European Electronic Tolling System serve its purpose?
    February 3, 2012
    ASECAP's Kallistratos Dionelis asks whether, despite the best intentions at the policy level, the European Electronic Tolling System can ever hope to serve the customer in the way it is intended to. Reality doesn't just happen. In many ways, reality is created. We first create or produce a reality and then we consume it; this takes time and has a cost that needs to be covered.
    Read More
  • Singapore plans changes to transit system
    June 13, 2018
    Singapore has the third-highest population density in the world and the numbers are continuing to grow. The government knows that transit is vital: David Crawford investigates the city state’s Smart Nation strategy. Transport is the most important of the five domains identified as the pillars of Singapore's far-reaching Smart Nation strategy, launched in November 2014 by prime minister Lee Hsien Loong with the aim of reaching fulfilment by 2024. Roads account for 12% of the island republic's 719km2 land ar
    Read More
  • Adesta wins Pennsylvania ITS upgrade
    January 31, 2012
    Adesta has won a contract to design, procure, install and integrate ITS upgrades, valued at US$8.6 million, for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission at its five tunnel locations, as well as other critical areas along the Turnpike’s east-west mainline and Northeastern Extension.
    Read More

Highlighted Content