Only 13 extra smart motorway emergency areas are in place, MPs told
Only 13 of a planned 150 extra smart motorway emergency stopping areas (ERAs) have been installed, the boss of National Highways said.
Chief executive Nick Harris told MPs he is “confident” that the remaining ERAs will be in place as scheduled by the end of March next year.
AA president Edmund King described the progress to date as “disappointing”.
It is very important that we ensure that the delivery of all the extra safety measures... is delivered at pace and that we are ensuring the safety of these particular roads
The project to retrofit smart motorways was announced in April last year as part of a £900 million investment in safety improvements.
Mr Harris, who last week visited a site on the M6 between junctions 21 and 23 where extra ERAs are being installed, told the Commons Transport Select Committee: “Having done the visit, met the alliance of contractors working on the programme, I am confident that we will deliver the 150 by the end of the road period.
“There’s a lot of planning required for a number of reasons.
“We want to make sure that they’re going into the most appropriate locations where they will add to safety.”
A National Highways spokesman said 34 new ERAs are under construction, in addition to the 13 already built.
Roads minister Guy Opperman told the committee: “It is very important that we ensure that the delivery of all the extra safety measures… is delivered at pace and that we are ensuring the safety of these particular roads.”
It is disappointing that that just 13 of the forecast 150 emergency areas have been opened but at least National Highways said they were confident of completing them within the designated time scale
In April last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the cancellation of planned projects to build all-lane running (ALR) smart motorways, which do not have a hard shoulder.
He said this was due to cost pressures and a lack of confidence among some road users.
But he has refused to reinstate the hard shoulder on existing smart motorways.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr King said: “We have stated for more than a decade that these smart motorways should never have been developed or opened without full safety features in place to start with.
“In the original M42 trial, the emergency areas were spaced at every 500 metres but when rolled out, without any consultation, they shifted the goalposts as the spacing was moved to every 2,500 metres (1.6 miles).
“There is a certain irony that £900 million is being spent to retrofit safety onto smart motorways.
“The additional 150 emergency areas, when constructed, should slightly improve the chances of being able to stop in a relative place of safety but reintroducing a hard shoulder together with emergency areas would be the safest move.
“It is disappointing that that just 13 of the forecast 150 emergency areas have been opened but at least National Highways said they were confident of completing them within the designated time scale.”
A National Highways report published last month revealed that smart motorways without a hard shoulder are three times more dangerous to break down on than those with an emergency lane.
The number of people killed or seriously injured after a stopped vehicle was hit by a moving vehicle was 0.21 per 100 million vehicle miles travelled on ALR smart motorways between 2017 and 2021.
That compares with rates of 0.07 on controlled smart motorways, which have variable speed limits but retain a hard shoulder, and 0.10 on conventional motorways.
National Highways said at the time that evidence shows all types of smart motorways are safer than conventional motorways in terms of deaths or serious injuries, and a series of safety improvements have been made since 2021.
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