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

  • UK traffic congestion getting worse says new report
    June 4, 2014
    Traffic congestion in cities across the UK has got significantly worse over the past year, according to a new report from TomTom. The fourth annual Traffic Index from TomTom shows average journeys in 2013 took 27 per cent longer than they would in free-flowing traffic – up from a 26 per cent delay in 2012.
    Read More
  • Kapsch outlines tolling options to combat traffic congestion
    January 11, 2017
    Michael Maitland from Kapsch TrafficCom looks at how the various forms of tolling can help authorities combat traffic congestion and air quality problems while simultaneously raising revenue.
    Read More
  • TRL aids Highways Agency with M2 motorway hole investigation
    February 21, 2014
    The UK’s transport research Laboratory (TRL) provided a rapid response when asked for help as part of the investigation of the recent appearance of a hole in the central reservation of the M2 between junctions 5 near Sittingbourne and 6, near Faversham. The hole that appeared is believed to be a dene hole; an historic man made hole which may have been used to mine for chalk hundreds of years ago. The hole was filled in when the M2 was constructed, but recent wet weather contributed to the destabilisati
    Read More
  • LGA report forecasts introduction of road tolling
    November 27, 2012
    A report by the Local Government Association (LGA), the organisation representing councils in England and Wales, predicts road tolling or pay as you drive road pricing could be introduced by 2018. With traffic predicted to nearly double over the next 25 years, the LGA believes the Government will have to consider tolls or even pay as you drive road pricing to raise the money it needs.
    Read More

Highlighted Content