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

  • Israel investing in infrastructure
    February 13, 2012
    The tender process is opening for Israel's Road 531 project, which will link Tel Aviv with Sharon. The highway contract will form part of the country's largest ever road project, according to the Israel National Roads Company.
    Read More
  • Israel investing in infrastructure
    May 3, 2012
    The tender process is opening for Israel's Road 531 project, which will link Tel Aviv with Sharon. The highway contract will form part of the country's largest ever road project, according to the Israel National Roads Company.
    Read More
  • The road to climate change mitigation starts at Highways UK
    February 17, 2020
    David Arminas explored climate change innovation on display at Highways UK in Birmingham, England
    Read More
  • ACE/AECOM report: private sector and user-pay for English roads
    May 14, 2018
    It’s one minute to midnight for funding England’s roads, according to a timely new report, and the clock’s big hand is pointing to some form of user-pay solution, reports David Arminas Is there any way out of future user-pay funding for England’s highway infrastructure? The answer is a resounding ‘no’, according to the recently published report: Funding Roads for the Future. The brief 25-page document by the London-based Association for Consultancy and Engineering, ACE**, sums up the state of England’s ro
    Read More

Highlighted Content