Skip to main content

Barnshaws’ curved steel post aids motorway traffic flow

UK company Barnshaws Metal Bending is supplying curved steel posts as part of a motorway sign designed to improve traffic flow on the UK’s new smart motorways. Smart motorways enable the hard shoulder to be used at peak times, creating a temporary fourth lane. Variable message signs (MS4) attached to the curved tubular steel post developed by Barnshaws display information for motorists, including when the hard shoulder is available for use. The design has resulted in faster installation of the signs
August 1, 2014 Read time: 1 min
UK company Barnshaws Metal Bending is supplying curved steel posts as part of a motorway sign designed to improve traffic flow on the UK’s new smart motorways.


Smart motorways enable the hard shoulder to be used at peak times, creating a temporary fourth lane.  Variable message signs (MS4) attached to the curved tubular steel post developed by Barnshaws display information for motorists, including when the hard shoulder is available for use.

The design has resulted in faster installation of the signs and less disruption to traffic during installation and maintenance.

Related Content

  • FTA concerns addressed in Government response on all-lane running
    December 14, 2016
    The UK Freight Transport Association (FTA) is pleased its concerns about management and signalling on smart motorways have been addressed in the Government’s response to a Transport Select Committee report published this week. FTA raised its concerns with Highways England on Red X compliance and proper management of the signal systems on smart motorways. The Government has responded to the Transport Select Committee’s report on all-lane running, highlighting these concerns. Smart motorways use tech
  • Swarco’s vehicle-activated warning signs alert drivers to a cyclist ahead
    January 15, 2020

    Swarco Traffic has created a ‘bicycle-ahead’ warning system for drivers on busy country lanes in the English county of Bedfordshire.      

  • New opportunities in a data-rich future
    March 19, 2014
    Jason Barnes looks at where the detection and monitoring sector is heading. In the future, there will be no such thing as an un-instrumented road. Just a short time ago, that could have been a quote from a high-level policy document but with the first arrivals of vehicles with 802.11p connectivity – the door-opener to Vehicle-to-X (V2X) applications – it’s a statement which has increasing validity. The technology which uses our roads will also provide information on road conditions but V2X isn’t the only
  • Bartco launches temporary VMS for work zones
    February 8, 2016
    UK manufacturer of temporary, solar powered variable message signs (VMS), Bartco UK, will unveil what it claims is the first temporary VMS designed for use within work zones. The HD Quattro was developed in response to feedback from customers requiring a product to affirm on-site speed limits for work zone vehicles. Designed to show limited amounts of information, such as speed roundels, at just 600mm x 600mm, the free-standing, 12v battery-powered device is the smallest VMS in Bartco’s portfolio.