Skip to main content

Improved safety information in M55 signs upgrade

A US$567,000 (£450,000) Highways England project to provide drivers using the M55 in Lancashire with better warnings about congestion, incidents and bad weather has been completed. Five of the latest electronic variable message signs, which can display pictorial as well as text messages, have been installed along the eastern end of the motorway between junction 1 at Broughton and the interchange with junction 32 of the M6. The new signs will allow Highways England traffic officers at the North West Re
December 12, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A US$567,000 (£450,000) 8101 Highways England project to provide drivers using the M55 in Lancashire with better warnings about congestion, incidents and bad weather has been completed.

Five of the latest electronic variable message signs, which can display pictorial as well as text messages, have been installed along the eastern end of the motorway between junction 1 at Broughton and the interchange with junction 32 of the M6.

The new signs will allow Highways England traffic officers at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows and colleagues at the National Traffic Operation Centre in Birmingham, to give clearer information – with the internationally-recognised symbols helping to warn drivers of dangers ahead including accidents, congestion, snow and ice, high winds or an increased skid risk.

The signs will operate traditionally, using only text messaging, until the spring when a programmed national software update will take place, allowing pictograms to be used as well.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Pioneering new passenger information systems
    February 3, 2012
    Chicago pioneers new passenger information initiatives. By David Crawford
  • Asecap Days 2024: Getting used to the new normal
    August 27, 2024
    Asecap Days 2024 in Milan focused on environmental protection of road infrastructure, digital twin-based maintenance and monitoring of highways as well as the impact of electric vehicles, reports David Arminas
  • Abu Dhabi installs VMS
    April 4, 2013
    Motorists in Abu Dhabi will now be able to get alerts about accidents and traffic jams from numerous variable message signs (VMS) currently being installed on the capital’s roads. At least 86 (VMS) will notify motorists of road blocks, construction and weather updates, giving them the opportunity to change their route if necessary. More than half will be equipped with traffic monitoring stations to record data from their areas and send the information to a central data centre. CCTV will also transmit road
  • New junction on London’s Cycle Superhighway offers safety measures for cyclists
    August 25, 2015
    Britain’s first junction designed to avoid cyclists being hit by left-turning traffic is unveiled today, the beginning of a new wave of such junctions on London’s busiest main roads. Cyclists and turning motor traffic will move in separate phases, with left-turning vehicles held back to allow cyclists to move without risk, and cyclists held when vehicles are turning left. There will also be a new ‘two-stage right turn’ to let cyclists make right turns in safety. For straight-ahead traffic, early-release