Highways England heralds roads revolution

The government is changing the way England’s motorways and A-roads are constructed and managed with an ambitious package of reforms that is expected to save the taxpayer at least £2.6 billion more than the subsequent 10 years.

Highways England, a new ‘at arm’s length’ government agency, will take more than the running of motorways and key trunk roads from the Highways Agency in April.

Expressway to heaven?

Up to £15 billion will be invested more than the coming years in a programme of operates that involves upgrading busy A-roads to ‘expressways’ by removing roundabouts and targeted traffic lights.

These will be replaced with entry and exit slip roads, and refuge areas will be offered for breakdowns and emergencies.

CCTV monitoring will be employed to determine difficulties and manage targeted traffic flow.

Slow traffic, such as tractors, will be banned from chosen routes. Cyclists may also be barred from higher-speed routes.

Sensible moves

Much more motorways will also be actively managed, with variable speed limits and targeted traffic allowed to use the tough shoulder as a 4th lane during busy periods – the so-referred to as ‘smart’ approach.

There are also plans to offer wi-fi connections by means of roadside signal masts so that drivers could be supplied with info, via SatNav devices, relating to congestion, climate circumstances and fuel rates.

Testing is also expected to take spot on no matter whether electric cars can be charged whilst in motion by means of charging loops embedded in the road surface.

Jam today, jam tomorrow?

New routes are also becoming regarded as a way to relieve congestion in notoriously busy areas, such as the route from Devon to Cornwall and the trunk roads north of Newcastle and across northern England.

The government is already committed to spending £2 billion on a ‘strategic corridor’ to the southwest by way of the A303, including a 1.8 mile tunnel at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

Other measures incorporate 9 major improvements along the A1 from Berwick to London, taking it to motorway standard via Yorkshire and extending the continuous dual carriageway 24 miles further north.

Highways England heralds roads revolution