Highways England heralds roads revolution

The government is altering the way England’s motorways and A-roads are built 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 over the operating of motorways and significant trunk roads from the Highways Agency in April.

Expressway to heaven?

Up to £15 billion will be invested over the coming years in a programme of works that contains upgrading busy A-roads to ‘expressways’ by removing roundabouts and traffic lights.

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

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

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

Smart moves

A lot more motorways will also be actively managed, with variable speed limits and traffic permitted to use the tough shoulder as a 4th lane during busy periods – the so-called ‘smart’ strategy.

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

Testing is also expected to take spot on no matter whether electric automobiles can be charged even though in motion by way of charging loops embedded in the road surface.

Jam right now, jam tomorrow?

New routes are also becoming deemed 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 currently committed to spending £2 billion on a ‘strategic corridor’ to the southwest by means of the A303, such as a 1.8 mile tunnel at Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

Other measures include 9 main improvements along the A1 from Berwick to London, taking it to motorway normal through Yorkshire and extending the continuous dual carriageway 24 miles further north.

Highways England heralds roads revolution