Highways Agency

Why are you doing this?
Traffic on these motorways has increased dramatically since they were built and has created safety, congestion and environmental problems.

Why aren't you increasing road capacity?
We may increase capacity but only at "pinch points" such as junctions.

Why aren't you widening?
The Thames Valley Multi Modal Study concluded that in the period up to 2016 the environmental damage caused by general widening would outweigh other benefits. But we may widen short sections where junctions are very close together and create a "pinch point".

What happens after 2016?
That is currently a matter for the draft South East Plan. The draft South East Plan contains a proposed infrastructure framework, including an intervention for widening the M4 between Junctions 5 and 8/9. However the draft is subject to consultation and an Examination in Public.

What about the public transport and other measures recommended by the Thames Valley Multi Modal Study?
The Highways Agency is only responsible for delivering measures relating to trunk roads and motorways. Separately the Agency is discussing issues such as demand management and possible interurban coach routes with local authorities in the Thames Valley.

How does this work relate to proposals to expand Heathrow, for example a third runway?
This work takes no account of future expansion of Heathrow, if necessary these proposals will be adjusted to take into account any firm proposals to expand Heathrow. The Secretary of State has announced that there will be no motorway widening as a result of any further expansion of Heathrow.

Why can't we use hard-shoulder running during peak hours?
It could cause some of the environmental damage, that the Thames Valley Multi Modal study sought to avoid.

Why can't we use hard-shoulder running during incidents? 
This is something we will consider, taking into account the results of a current trial on the M42.

Why can't we use hard-shoulder running for buses? 
his is something that we are considering.

What's happening with the queues tailing onto the motorway from slip roads?
We are looking at junction improvements, where applicable liaising with Local Authorities.

Is anything being done to stop lorries overtaking during peak periods?
This is something we will consider, taking into account the results of a current trial on the M42.

Is anything being done about tail-gating?
We are looking at active and adaptive road markings

What is a Controlled Motorway?
Improves safety on the motorway by providing better management of queues, advanced warning of incidents ahead and improved lane discipline.

Are speed cameras going to be installed? 
Controlled motorways use variable compulsory speed limits. These will be enforced as on the M25 controlled motorway between junctions 10 and 16. No decision has been made on enforcement methods.

What about people that hog the middle lane? 
We will be looking a ways to influence and improve driver behaviour, for example use of messages on electronic signs.

The informative signs, in my experience, never show the correct information, how are you going to improve this?
Regional Control Centres are up and running and together with better management and data collection by Highways Agency Traffic Officers (HATO), will make the management of incidents and traffic more timely and accurate.

What is an HOV / dedicated / priority lane?
A lane that only certain people could use, for example:                               

• Buses, taxis and motorcycles
• High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) – 2 or more occupants per vehicle
• Official vehicles carrying officials and competitors at the time of the London Olympics

In my experience the M4 Bus Lane didn't work very well.
On the contrary, it reduced peak journey times for all vehicles, but particularly for buses and coaches.

Won't the introduction of dedicated or priority lanes cause more congestion? 
We would normally only provide a dedicated lane as an additional lane, alternatively we might provide priority lanes at entry slip roads.

Why should Olympic athletes and officials have special privileges? 
The UK's bid for the London Olympics contained undertaking to provide reliable journeys for them, when they are in official Olympic vehicles.

What is motorway access management or ramp metering? 
Motorway access management (or ramp metering) uses traffic signals to manage traffic entering a motorway at an entry slip road. Traffic joins when through traffic is lighter, increasing throughput, speed and journey reliability.

In my experience the ramp metering trial on the M27 did not work very well. 
The M27 was part of a pilot implementation of ramp metering and helped us identify sites which were not suitable for ramp metering as well as those that were. We will only implement ramp metering at suitable sites in the Thames Valley.

How long will I have to wait to join the motorway? 
Up to a few minutes but once there your journey will be better. Queues will not be allowed to extend beyond the slip road.

Won't this increase traffic on local roads?
We expect these proposals to reduce traffic on local roads by providing quicker and more reliable journeys. However even with these proposals there is a limit to the capacity of our motorways.

Aren't concrete barriers more dangerous in the central reserve?
No. Although the impact will be greater, barriers will prevent vehicles from crossing to the other carriageway. They are also more effective at stopping HGVs.

What happens if there is a bad accident, which shuts the motorway? How can motorists be freed from the queue when there is a concrete barrier? 
Currently trapped vehicles have to u-turn and travel the wrong way along the motorway under police supervision to the previous junction. However we will be considering whether breaks can be provided in any new concrete barriers.

Is anything being done about "rubber necking"? 
Yes, temporary fencing can be erected at an accident, preventing vehicles travelling on the other carriageway from looking at the accident and causing another and we will be considering whether permanent fencing could be provided at some locations.

Will the proposals include demand management? 
The strategy recommended by the Thames Valley Multi Modal Study included demand management where appropriate to limit traffic joining the motorway network, to prevent it grid locking. However these schemes do not include demand management. Separately the Highways Agency is in discussion with local authorities at a number of locations about whether and how demand management should be introduced.

Why don’t you consider park & ride? 
The Highways Agency does not have powers to provide Park & Ride but we are regularly in discussion with local transport authorities and we will encourage them to develop Park & Ride sites where these would complement our proposals.

How long will the roadworks to implement these proposals last? 
It is too early to say however we always plan works to minimise disruption to traffic.

What happened to the M3 and M4 Route Management Strategies? 
We have taken forward the issues and possible solutions from the M3 and M4 Route Management Strategies into these proposals.

When am I likely to see these proposals installed on the motorway? 
Work could start as early as 2008.

What happens next? 
We will be deciding whether and how to include the various proposals into the road schemes and other measures.

How much will it cost?
It is too early to say but we are working to an indicative estimate of £375m.

Is road user charging the answer? 
The brief for this study does not include consideration of demand management by road user charging.  However, the Secretary of State is separately encouraging local authorities to consider whether this sort of solution might be appropriate.     

What target is the Highways Agency working towards to improve journey time reliability?
The Highways Agency is working towards the Public Service Agreement (PSA) Target which is focused on reducing the average delay of the 10% slowest journeys, in order to make overall journey times more reliable.

What target is the Highways Agency working towards to improve road safety? 
The Highways Agency is working towards the Public Service Agreement (PSA) Target which is by 2010 to reduce by a third the number killed and seriously injured, to reduce by 10% the number of slight casualties, and to contribute to the national target of reducing child casualties by 50% (compared with 1994/8).

Why aren't private hire vehicles allowed in the M4 and M4 Spur Bus Lanes? 
We could only allow licensed private hire vehicles into these lanes for legal reasons and at the time the lanes were introduced there was no licensing scheme for private hire vehicles in London.

Will you allow private hire vehicles into the M4 and M4 Spur Bus Lanes? 
The issue of allowing licensed private hire vehicles into bus lanes in London is being considered by transport for London and we will review the impact on the M4 and M4 bus lanes when the situation becomes clearer. However there are technical difficulties in allowing more vehicles into the two lanes and licensed taxis are banned from the M4 spur bus lane for this reason.