Smart UK motorway scheme

The first smart motorway scheme in the UK’s south-west has been officially launched, covering 11km of motorway around the Almondsbury interchange and including junctions 19-20 on the M4 and junctions 15-17 on the M5. It is designed to help reduce congestion and improve safety and journey times by introducing variable speed limits and opening the hard shoulder during busy traffic periods. The improvements to the M4 and M5 use a range of technologies and operational systems to reduce congestion and smooth t
February 19, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The M4/M5 project included installation of 33 new gantries, refurbishing seven existing ones, resurfacing over 22km of carriageway, laying over 48km of fibre optic cabling and constructing six emergency refuge areas
The first smart motorway scheme in the UK’s south-west has been officially launched, covering 11km of motorway around the Almondsbury interchange and including junctions 19-20 on the M4 and junctions 15-17 on the M5.

It is designed to help reduce congestion and improve safety and journey times by introducing variable speed limits and opening the hard shoulder during busy traffic periods. The improvements to the M4 and M5 use a range of technologies and operational systems to reduce congestion and smooth the flow of traffic. During busy periods, traffic officers in the regional control centre at Avonmouth will set overhead message signs to inform drivers they can use the hard shoulder as an extra lane and at what speed to drive.

2309 Highways Agency senior project manager Paul Unwin said: “The M4 and M5 scheme demonstrates how a smart and efficient solution can deliver improvements that road users need – more capacity and better management of traffic to reduce congestion and make journey times more reliable.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Hanwha on the Pedemontana Veneta
    November 1, 2022
    The need for a motorway to link the cities of Vicenza and Treviso in northern Italy emerged in the 1970s as the Venetian countryside became increasingly urbanised. Meanwhile, the enlargement of the European Union to the east in the 1990s also brought more traffic across the region
    Read More
  • Tunnels - an environmentally attractive option?
    February 21, 2012
    While tunnels are often more expensive than bridges, they can offer environmentally attractive options for transport schemes. Tunnels offer environmentally attractive options for a range of transport infrastructure schemes, but in many cases high construction costs may restrict their use.
    Read More
  • Chile’s new urban highway link
    May 2, 2022
    Nestling in a valley beside the Andes mountain range, Santiago has a growing population and has suffered from increasingly heavy congestion in recent years, requiring a new urban road link for which safety has been set as a priority for drivers - *iRAP reports
    Read More
  • EIB backing Irish motorway link
    April 30, 2014
    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing financial backing worth €144 million for the new M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway project. The M17/M18 Gort to Tuam PPP Scheme is situated in the west of Ireland and will be constructed as a four lane motorway that will replace the existing N17/N18 roads. This new motorway will reduce journey times by around 20 minutes and has an overall cost estimated at €550 million. Construction work will start during this year and this is the second transport PPP to be signed un
    Read More

Highlighted Content