Behind the scenes of M-way roadworks set to change the way we drive

CARS are racing past me and I am stood in the middle of the M6. No, this isn’t some awful nightmare, I am literally stood at the heart of the roadworks taking place to turn our stretch of the busy motorway into a Smart Motorway.

On a busy day, 127,000 vehicles pass through Junctions2 to 4 of the M6.

Most of us have, at some point, been stuck in a traffic jam here or felt the impact of it on the roads in surrounding areas.

The Smart Motorway works aim to help ease the switch-off-your-engine scenarios, ensuring traffic can continue to run at busy times, using the hard shoulder and real-time variable speed limits.

Transforming our stretch of the M6 into a Smart Motorway is no simple task.

In fact, it has been a year and a half since the £234million project on the 14-mile stretch first started.

“We want to keep the motorway network running and this section of the M6 desperately needed something,” said Peter Smith, Highways England Smart Motorway sponsor.

“The Smart Motorway works here have gone extremely well, we are so pleased to be on track to be finished on time, as we said, in March 2020 and that is down to the hard work of the teams.”

These works have brought 50mph restrictions and narrow lanes. Yes, these restrictions are frustrating but I have seen with my own eyes exactly why they are needed.

The workers out there, literally in the middle of the motorway, are working to make these changes. It was a heart-in-my-mouth moment when we first stepped out into the area where the new central reservation is being constructed.

During our health and safety chat before we went onto the actual motorway, we were told to stay well away from the temporary barriers put in place around the central reservation.

It is not until you actually get on the ground that you realise just what wise words these are. You are literally sandwiched between two streams of traffic - it is unnerving to say the least.

Yet these teams of workers are out there, day in, day out, and at night, to get the job done. It is an unenviable and thankless task.

We have been told workers have faced abuse from passing motorists and they are out there in all weathers.

There are some eye-watering stats to do with the works. During the life of them, an incredible 40,329 metres of steel barriers will be used, as well as 14,344m of concrete barrier, 84,278 tonnes of pavement surfacing and 21,585 metres of new drainage pipes and chambers.

Much of the drainage work is being done now as the new central reservation is created.

Drainage is key and under carriageway ducts are needed to carry

off the water. These new drainage works will last for 30 years.

Gone are the steel central reservations and, in their place, concrete barriers. These are designed especially to stop ‘cross overs,’ where vehicles involved in collisions spill over into the opposite carriageway, resulting in both carriageways having to close.

This new concrete barrier is being laid at a rate of 200m per day.

There are between 200 and 250 people working everyday, at night alone there are 22 different trades working. All while most of us are fast aseep.

There are 41 new gantries, with new CCTV cameras and brand new fibre optic cable laid along the length of the motorway stretch. This is so that information from the new traffic monitoring radar detectors dotted along the stretch of motorway can relay back information to the control room which can then be displayed, in real time, on the new message signs and on the gantries.

Technology is key to Smart Motorways. It helps to monitor traffic flow and then, as a result, it is used to tell drivers, almost instantly, if there are any problems.

The message signs can also be used to warn drivers about road conditions, the weather, events and even give important road safety messages.

To pull off this huge project requires everything to be planned to the most finite detail.

Take the overnight slip road closures that have been in place for the past year. Traffic flow is monitored before they are actually enforced and if the motorway is way too busy, they won’t happen.

Also, after Black Friday, the night closures are lifted so that firms can make their deliveries. It is the same around Christmas.

There are 6,000 different organisations, businesses and even residents on the database for information about the closures. Everyone who wants to be kept in the loop, is.

This planning goes way beyond the actual work themselves. All of the old central reservation barriers have been crushed and recycled, and trees that have had to be felled have been shredded and the wood chippings sent to Twycross Zoo for the animals.

This kindof attention to detail is lost on the public. We just see the works happening and that’s that, we are blissfully unaware of what is going on behind the scenes.

“We need to make sure that the scheme is performing as it should,” Mr Smith added. “Ultimately, safety is paramount.” I can vouch for that, every single movement on these motorway works is carried out with not only the safety of the workers but also the passing motorists in mind. So next time you travel past the slip roads to and see the work signs or drive through the works itself, just remember that behind the disruption is an army of workers trying to keep you safe now - and for years to come.