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Active Traffic Management in detail
Hard shoulder opened on M42 to cut congestion
New initiatives between junctions 3A and 7
Motorists in the West Midlands are the first in Britain to be able to drive on the hard shoulder during busy periods to cut congestion.
This scheme, which was launched on Tuesday 12 September, is part of a £100m Highways Agency scheme called Active Traffic Management.
The scheme aims to help keep the traffic moving by making the best possible use of the space available on our existing motorways, rather than building more new roads.
The ATM stretch of the M42 between Junction 3A for the M40, and junction 7 for the M6, carries 140,000 vehicles each day made up of long distance traffic, local users and customers of Birmingham International Airport and the NEC.
Drivers using this stretch could now be directed to drive on the hard shoulder at times of peak congestion by hi-tech electronic signs above the carriageway. A 50mph speed limit will appear above the hard shoulder, and when it is in use, a maximum 50mph speed limit will also be applied to all lanes on the carriageway.
The hard shoulder would only be used as a running lane when motorists are directed to use it. This will usually be shown by a sign showing a speed limit above the hard shoulder, but there may also be an arrow showing motorists to use it.
Safety is very important to the project. If a motorist develops a problem with their vehicle, they should pull into the emergency refuge areas which have been provided beside the hard shoulder approximately every 500 metres to provide a safe place to stop away from the traffic.
These refuges contain the latest emergency roadside telephones to connect motorists directly to the Highways Agency Regional Control Centre at Quinton near Birmingham.
Individual lanes, including the hard shoulder can be opened and closed by Highways Agency Traffic Officers based at Quinton by displaying a red ‘X’ on the electronic lane signals above the carriageway. Comprehensive CCTV coverage means that Traffic Officers in the control room will be able to spot any incident or break down in a carriageway and close the affected lane by displaying a red X above it.
The Highways Agency has worked closely with the emergency services on the ATM scheme, and the flexible approach to opening and closing lanes means that in the event of a major incident, immediate lane closures will ensure emergency services access as quickly as possible.
The ATM project offers significant cost and environmental benefits over widening and to widen the ATM stretch would cost at least five times what has been spent on this scheme.
It is important that you are aware of this scheme because it involves changes to the way in which you will drive on this motorway. Please select the links to the right for further information. You can also let us know what you think.
This animation describes how Active Traffic Management works in practice.
