UK motorway gets first ‘orange’ smart motorway emergency area

The first new-style smart motorway emergency area, where drivers can stop in an emergency, is being trialled on the M3 motorway in Surrey. Highways England is trialling the redesigned emergency area in response to public concern about smart motorways. It has a highly visible orange road surface and better signs to help improve its visibility make it more obvious to drivers on smart motorways. It is also hoped that it will encourage drivers to only use them in emergency situations. The first of the new emerg
July 17, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The first new-style smart motorway emergency area, where drivers can stop in an emergency, is being trialled on the M3 motorway in Surrey.


8101 Highways England is trialling the redesigned emergency area in response to public concern about smart motorways. It has a highly visible orange road surface and better signs to help improve its visibility make it more obvious to drivers on smart motorways. It is also hoped that it will encourage drivers to only use them in emergency situations.

The first of the new emergency areas went live late last week. More upgrades are planned should the trial be successful. This change is part of an ongoing review into the design and spacing of emergency areas on smart motorways that is due to report in the autumn.

Smart motorways use variable speed limits to manage traffic and tackle congestion, new technology to give drivers better information on road conditions ahead and, in smart motorway upgrades delivered since 2004, convert the hard shoulder into an extra traffic lane. Highways England says evidence shows that smart motorways are successfully adding extra capacity, improving journey times and are just as safe as conventional motorways.

If the redesigned emergency areas are successful and drivers find the changes beneficial, more orange emergency areas will be introduced across England’s network of smart motorways.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Design contract awarded for M40 noise barriers
    November 17, 2015
    A new milestone in a project to develop innovative ways of reducing noise along the M40 has been reached, with the award of a design contract worth up to US$3 million. The contract will see WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff review sites along the M40 between junctions 3 and 8, which have been identified as areas where road noise is a particular issue and help decide where the barriers would be of benefit. Earlier this year, Highways England, working in partnership with the M40 Chiltern Environmental Group, (M40
    Read More
  • Heavy weather: how ITS can mitigate climate change effects
    August 22, 2023
    Countries, regions and cities all over the world are seeing unprecedented extreme weather events causing destruction in different ways: from heat and wildfires to snow and floods and much else in between. Jon Tarleton of Baron Weather explains how the ITS industry can help the transportation network to remain efficient as the climate changes
    Read More
  • New technology set to transform England’s motorways
    October 12, 2015
    A new high-tech intelligent transport system is set to transform the way traffic is managed on England’s motorways and major A roads. Highways England has awarded a US$46 million contract to Austria-based firm Kapsch TrafficCom to install the system at its regional control centre in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, which will then be rolled out to the rest of the country. The new technology will integrate a wide range of functions and manage the existing large quantity of different roadside devices. The sys
    Read More
  • Rapid growth makes Texas an incubator for tolling innovation
    September 8, 2014
    As the IBTTA’s annual meeting and exhibition heads for Austin, Mitchell Beer, president of Smarter Shift, considers the role of Texas in the development of tolling strategies and technology. The State of Texas has always prided itself on being ‘larger than life’. From the sprawling geography of the state itself with its wide open skies, to its entrepreneurial ‘get-it-done’ attitude, Texas exudes an impatient restlessness that pushes businesses and public agencies to deliver faster, better results. More ofte
    Read More

Highlighted Content