M62 - Your Local History
A lot of finds were uncovered during the archaeological evaluation carried out for the M62 Junction 6 Improvement scheme so we thought it would be nice to provide an interactive website so you can see what we found.
Better information for your journey
The National Traffic Control Centre collects real-time information on road conditions
Lane Hog!
John Stapleton looks into why people Lane Hog and what effects it has on the driver hogging the lane and other road users.
Educating tomorrow's drivers
See how we are driving through key messages about safety on our network for the drivers of tomorrow.
Meet the Ancestors
Find out about the history of roads and the work the Agency does to preserve archaeological remains.
See when traffic will be lightest
Our traffic forecaster can help get you there quicker
How the system works now
The TCC project will build upon the existing traffic management system, which allows the police and the Highways Agency to manage traffic on the motorway and trunk road network in response to accidents and incidents.
At present the traffic on English motorways is controlled by 32 Police Control Offices. The police monitor traffic conditions throughout the motorway and trunk road network using their patrols and by CCTV. They respond to emergency telephones, attend incidents and set road safety message signs to warn drivers of any obstructions and congestion ahead.
The Agency provides the equipment for these control centres and liaises with the police over their operation. For example in May 1998 it handed over to Avon and Somerset police a £5.5 million closed circuit television (CCTV) project in the Bristol area, which monitors 150 miles of trunk road with 37 CCTV cameras at strategic points.
The Agency also has some large scale traffic management capability. It has pioneered successful traffic control and driver information systems, which will now be incorporated into the TCCs. Two systems covering the Midlands and Kent are already in operation. In the Midlands between 20 and 30 strategic diversion plans are implemented each month and about 40 per cent of drivers accept advice given to them. Results such as these have demonstrated the potential to reduce significantly delays on the network by extending traffic management to cover the whole of the core network.
