More than 80 miles of smart motorways will open in defiance of transport secretary’s guidelines
More miles of smart motorways are to open: In defiance of minister’s safety guidelines, highways bosses plan extra stretches of deadly roads
Highways bosses are ignoring guidance for total of 84 miles of smart motorwaysRefuges will be 1.5 miles apart instead of one mile as advised by Grant ShappsInquiry also said laybys that are 1 mile apart should be ‘retro-fitted’ on schemesNational Highways says schemes were designed before the guidance was issued
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More than 80 miles of deadly smart motorways are to be opened – despite demands from MPs that the rollout be paused.
The routes will have emergency refuges up to 1.5 miles apart, in defiance of safety guidelines laid down by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that the distance should be no more than a mile.
National Highways bosses are ignoring the guidance for around 84 miles of smart motorways, the Mail has learnt.
Among them are nearly 15 miles of the M4 between junctions 3 and 8/9 and 15 miles of the M27 between junctions 4 and 11.
When 17 miles of the M6 between junctions 13 and 15 opens, it will also be with emergency laybys up to 1.5 miles apart.
It is the same for 23 miles of the M1 between junctions 13 and 16, a further ten miles of the M6 between junctions 21A and 26 and four miles of the M56 between junctions 6 and 8.
Clair Mercer, whose husband was killed on a smart motorway (pictured with campaigner Jack Gallowtree with a cardboard coffin) said she believes Grant Shapps has lost control
Following a review, the Transport Secretary said the refuges – where vehicles can pull in during an accident or breakdown – should be no more than a mile apart on roads without a hard shoulder.
Ideally, and where ‘feasible’, he said they should be three-quarters of a mile apart.
Last week an inquiry by the Commons transport committee also said emergency laybys should be ‘retro-fitted’ on all schemes so they are a ‘maximum’ of one mile apart.
National Highways, the agency responsible for smart motorways, says the new sections in question were designed before Mr Shapps’s review and so too early for his safety guidance to be included.
But Tory MP Karl McCartney said: ‘This latest decision to ignore the wishes of both the Transport Secretary and the transport select committee shows the contempt of the National Highways authority and their “we know best” mentality.
‘Maybe some of them, insulated in their ivory towers in London, could go and join those recovery vehicle operatives who have to work on smart motorways with no hard shoulder, or better still experience being stranded on any of our motorways in a live lane waiting too long for recovery and assistance.’
National Highways says the new sections of smart motorways in question were designed before Mr Shapps’s review and so too early for his safety guidance to be included
Jim McMahon, Labour’s transport spokesman, said: ‘If the Government continues to insist on ignoring calls from countless experts and campaigners to reinstate the hard shoulder while proper safety reviews are carried out – as Labour has repeatedly called for – ministers will find themselves having to explain to yet another bereaved family why they have simply shrugged their shoulders in response to mounting evidence.’
Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason was killed on a stretch of the M1 with no hard shoulder in 2019, said: ‘Grant Shapps has obviously lost control.
‘He recommended refuges be closer together and the committee report recommended it.’
National Highways’ smart motorways programme director, David Bray, said the roads agency was ‘looking at’ whether extra refuge areas could be installed, but gave no firm guarantees.
He said: ‘We have listened to drivers’ concerns about being able to find a safe place to stop in an emergency.
‘We are actively looking at where we can build additional emergency areas on motorways currently under construction.’
