Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Smarter roads

Key outcome

Increasing use of new technology by the Highways Agency to improve the real-time management of traffic on our strategic road network. New systems will provide more reliable journey times, improve safety and control traffic flows.

Our vision

Whilst there will be a need for some targeted widening and focussed junction improvements, there is a great deal we can achieve by using new technology to manage congestion and make the best use of our strategic roads.

We have already piloted the use of speed controls to smooth traffic flows on the M25. We are now testing the use of traffic signals to manage flows on the accesses to the M27. By 2002, the HA Traffic Control Centre will start to provide up-to-date advice on traffic problems using a new traffic monitoring system.

By 2003, we will have driver information signs on all strategic points on the motorway network. By 2004, we will have in place automatic hold up warning systems on 30% of our motorways and 200 more motorway CCTV cameras.

There is more we can do. Each of these components can, and will, continue to be used to tackle congestion and provide safer, easier journeys. But they can be more effective if used together and added to new types of electronic signs, which will allow each lane to be operated individually. We will then be able to manage the available road space to best effect and make best use of the network.

For example, we can:

• use electronic signs to close lanes and safeguard broken down vehicles
• reserve lanes during peak hours for exclusive bus, lorry or other use
• slow down traffic over an area to ease flows through a critical bottleneck
• divert traffic to avoid a tail-back at an incident
• aim to carry out routine maintenance work in greater safety by closing lanes with electronic signing

And for the future we could expect to be able to:

• use electronic traffic signs and speed limits to permit the safe use of the hard shoulder when, for example, managing incidents and maintenance works

But this is not just about new technology. We will also work in close partnership with others to develop together the new systems we need for better operation of the strategic road network.

For example, we will discuss with the Police and the other emergency services how we can improve incident handling: to get faster care to the injured, recover stranded vehicles quicker and reopen the road as fast as possible.

In our vision of the future, these and other innovations will help to ensure peoples journeys are as safe and convenient as they can be. We are planning to trial new Operations Centres where our teams can work together with the Police to look at better ways to manage the network. The CCTV systems will quickly spot that someone is in difficulty, and traffic signs will be set to warn and move traffic over if they are in trouble in an active lane.

Where we are using these techniques, there will also be "safe havens" (new emergency refuges behind the hard shoulder and well clear of traffic) for people in trouble to pull into. The roadside information signs will keep drivers regularly informed of traffic conditions. We intend to trial these concepts at a number of suitable sites.

In this way, we will provide Active Traffic Management - smarter, more responsive, electronic motorways and a safer, better quality service for your motorway journey.

Further information

To obtain further information use the links below to visit other sections in the Highways Agency website.

• New Variable Message Signs - Factsheet
• CCTV Monitoring - Factsheet
• Smoothing the Flow on to motorways - Factsheet
• Traffic Control Centre - Factsheet
• Controlled Motorways - Factsheet
• Automatic Incident Detection - Factsheet (48KB PDF)
• The National Roads Telecommunications Services Project - Factsheet (60KB PDF)
• Using CCTV to Improve Safety on Roads - Storyboard (1.4MB PDF)
• Map - Rollout of Automatic Hold-up Warning System (MIDAS) (751KB PDF)