Skip to main content

Solar road studs aid night time road safety on the M20

UK company, Astucia, part of the Clearview Traffic Group, and Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald has installed over 4,000 Astucia SolarLite road studs on the M20 junctions 8 to 9 between Ashford and Maidstone, on behalf of the UK Highways Agency. This section of the motorway lacks street lighting increasing the potential risk for night time accidents. The project involved upgrading the existing road markings and road studs to address the high number of collisions recorded in the dark and wet conditions. The exis
October 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
UK company, 1875 Astucia, part of the 557 Clearview Traffic Group, and 3902 Balfour Beatty 1869 Mott MacDonald has installed over 4,000 Astucia SolarLite road studs on the M20 junctions 8 to 9 between Ashford and Maidstone, on behalf of the 1841 UK Highways Agency.

This section of the motorway lacks street lighting increasing the potential risk for night time accidents. The project involved upgrading the existing road markings and road studs to address the high number of collisions recorded in the dark and wet conditions. The existing traditional retro-reflective studs, many of which had become faulty, were removed and replaced with over Astucia SolarLite road studs.

Astucia claim their road studs have demonstrated that they can form the future of traffic safety by providing enhanced safety for road users reducing night time casualties by up to 70 per cent.  The M20 installation joins other equally vital and environmentally conscious installations already seen on the A20 in the county fondly known as the Garden of England.

Astucia managing director Nick Lanigan states “This is a superb example of the type of scenario where installing Astucia SolarLite road studs will make a real difference to the safety record and the public perception of their safety whilst travelling on this section of the M20 motorway. These unique studs significantly improve lane and road layout visibility during the hours of darkness, resulting in drivers adjusting their driving speed and behaviour and reducing the amount and severity of night time accidents.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Newcastle rush-hour traffic trials get the go-ahead
    February 15, 2013
    Traffic trials aimed at streamlining the rush-hour commute in the UK’s north-east have been given the green light. The project in Newcastle involves new satellite navigation technology which helps drivers adjust their speed so they can pass through a series of lights on green. The European project is being led by Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council, and aims to reduce city centre congestion and pollution associated with stop-start driving. Phil Blythe, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems
  • Shorter queues with SRL’s Multiphase ADS 
    August 23, 2021
    Multiphase ADS – adaptive detection system - was independently modelled by Ian Routledge Consultancy.
  • Industry-led consortium to develop oneTRANSPORT smart city initiative
    August 18, 2015
    An innovative smart city initiative focused on addressing the challenges in transportation systems with Internet of Things (IoT) technology has been awarded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK to a consortium of leading European industry, academic and transport authority partners. The project, oneTRANSPORT, is an integrated transport initiative targeted at transport authorities. Totalling approximately US$5.4 million (with co-funding by Innovate UK provided as a result of a successful competition
  • Righter shade of pale
    July 24, 2012
    Jon Tarleton, Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc., talks about developments in mobile weather information gathering Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc. (QTT) is promoting the greater use of mobile technologies to provide infill between fixed Road Weather Information System (RWIS) infrastructure. It is, the company says, a means of reducing the expense of providing comprehensive, network-wide coverage, particularly in geographic locations where the sheer number of centreline miles causes cost to