Government cancels plans for new smart motorways

The government has announced that all plans for new smart motorways have been cancelled due to  lack of public confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures.

This will mean that the 11 schemes already paused from the second Road Investment Strategy (2020 to 2025) and the 3 earmarked for construction during the third Road Investment Strategy (2025 to 2030) will be removed from the government’s road-building plans.

While no new stretches will be converted, work on the M56 J6 to J8 and M6 J21a to J26 will go ahead as planned given they are already over three-quarters constructed.

However, campaigners have called for all existing smart motorways to be scrapped too.

Edmund King, president of the AA, told the BBC that the government should restore a permanent hard shoulder to 375 miles of existing smart motorways.

"Basically drivers don't trust them, the technology is not fool proof, and 37% of breakdowns on smart motorways happen in live lanes. And basically those drivers are sitting ducks."