UK’s M3 motorway gets first orange emergency area

The first of a new-style smart motorway emergency stop area is being trialled on the M3 in England. The redesigned emergency area has a highly visible orange road surface and better signs to improve its visibility, according to Highways England, the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and major A roads.
August 1, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Safer with an orange: Emergency Refuge Areas using QMS Type 1 HyperGrip system

The first of a new-style smart motorway emergency stop area is being trialled on the M3 in England.

The redesigned emergency area has a highly visible orange road surface and better signs to improve its visibility, according to 8100 Highways England, the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintaining and operating England’s motorways and major A roads.

Work on the officially-called Emergency Refuge Areas is being done by 8037 WJ in collaboration with maintenance contractors 1146 Balfour Beatty and 184 Colas.

Smart motorways relieve congestion and improve journey times by making the hard shoulder available for use at busy periods. On some schemes, it is permanently converted into a traffic lane, known as All Lane Running.

Spaced emergency refuge areas - ERA - are provided roughly every 2.5km and are clearly marked with blue signs featuring an orange SOS telephone symbol.

This safety upgrade, using QMS Type 1 HyperGrip system, has been delivered on the 21.5km smart motorway scheme, which covers the M3 from junctions 2-4a in Hampshire and Surrey counties. Two emergency refuge areas were completed as z trial and now all ERA’s on the scheme will be afforded the same enhancement.

It is planned now to apply this coloured system on all ERA’s throughout the scheme with other smart motorway contracts expressing interest.

The change is part of an ongoing review into the design and spacing of emergency areas on smart motorways, said Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England chief executive.

Quality Marking Services
%$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.qmarkings.co.uk Quality Marking Services Website Link false http://www.qmarkings.co.uk/ false false%>

Road Markings, Barriers & Workzone Protection

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Hidromek is developing wheeled loaders
    January 6, 2017
    Hidromek is commencing work on developing its new wheeled loader line. Export manager Anil Bingöl said, “We have started our wheeled loader project and we hope to have our first prototype machine this year.” This will feature a 3m3 bucket and will be the first in a range of wheeled loaders from the firm. Machines with bucket capacities of 4m3 and then 5m3 will be developed in due course. Testing of the first prototype will be carried out in Turkey and Bingöl said the firm intends to have its wheeled loaders
    Read More
  • Remu’s a splash hit at INTERMAT
    January 6, 2017
    Finnish company REMU is keen for its Big Float 800 floating excavator to be a splash hit following its launch this week at INTERMAT. The amphibious machine weighs in at 12,500kg and can be transported even with three-axel trucks. With a boom length of 7.7m and digging depth of 4.1m the Big Float 800, like REMU’s other Big Float models, is completely floating and can be brought to a job site by land using its tracks or towed or driven with propellers along waterways.
    Read More
  • Remu’s a splash hit at INTERMAT
    April 16, 2012
    Finnish company REMU is keen for its Big Float 800 floating excavator to be a splash hit following its launch this week at INTERMAT. The amphibious machine weighs in at 12,500kg and can be transported even with three-axel trucks. With a boom length of 7.7m and digging depth of 4.1m the Big Float 800, like REMU’s other Big Float models, is completely floating and can be brought to a job site by land using its tracks or towed or driven with propellers along waterways.
    Read More
  • HMK300LC dominates Hidromek’s INTERMAT stand
    January 6, 2017
    Dominating Hidromek’s stand at INTERMAT is its 30.5tonne HMK300LC excavator. In common with the other gen series excavators, the HMK300LC has Hidromek’s latest cab design, which offers more room for the operator and the “Opera” user interface designed to optimise the excavator’s force, speed and consumption.
    Read More

Highlighted Content