M6 nightmare no better after chaos, claim drivers But highways agencies tell police chief progress is being made
DRIVERS have told the region’s police and crime commissioner that little has changed since a nightmarish 24-hour shutdown of the M6 which saw the region grind to a halt.
The route was closed between junction 5 and Spaghetti Junction on February 4, leaving commuters stuck for hours and much of the region’s major road network blocked.
Some motorists were trapped in their cars for up to nine hours because it took highways bosses so long to re-open the road, and the cost to the West Midlands economy was estimated to be £40 million.
The original inquiry in March, hosted by West Midlands Police Commissioner David Jamieson, made 11 recommendations to speed up emergency response times and keep traffic moving.
It included proposals to open up the M6 Toll for free during future incidents. This week Highways England and the Central Motorway Police Group, outlined progress on the recommendations at another meeting with the commissioner.
Mr Jamieson invited members of the public to send views on whether things had improved – but he said the feeling was that nothing much had changed.
“The public have expressed some very strong views,” he said.
“One person wrote and told me how the M6 is his daily nightmare, while someone else said they were planning to move away from the area because of the M6 problems.
“These are real cries, loud cries for help from the public.
However, the agencies responsible told Mr Jamieson the region was better equipped to deal with a major incident like that in February – though there was still a long way to go.
The meeting was told improvements had been made including much more information on police logs for other agencies to use, and Highways England being given earlier access to crash sites to assess the carriageway and traffic management needs.
Highways England now mobilises repair materials to incidents immediately and a major incident hotline has been set up.
Damaged road surfaces are also now planed down, allowing traffic to use them sooner than before.
Speaking of February’s chaos, Mr Jamieson said: “”It took nearly 24 hours before the motorway fully reopened, and that is totally unaccep
table. “The public outcry at the time was very considerable and that’s very understandable. “People didn’t get to hospital appointments or work, big companies didn’t get their components and one lady who was eight months pregnant was trapped for nine hours on the motorway.
“And then there was the damage to the region’s reputation, to people who might want to invest in our economy, and the risk to the health of the people trapped in their vehicles.
“Luckily, that night it wasn’t that cold, but a few degrees or so lower and it would be a different story.”
The meeting was also told it was vital that any problems with the motorway network were ironed out before work started on HS2 – the biggest construction project the region has ever seen.
“Obviously, HS2 is the elephant in the room and if things aren’t spot on now, the challenges will be truly vast,” Mr Jamieson said.
“The process of construction could seriously undermine our economy during that time, so we need to make sure we are prepared for HS2 and its construction doesn’t bring our region to a standstill.”