How getting ‘smart’ on M62 will change your life
THE first smart motorways around Greater Manchester should be up and running within months.
The M62 stretch between junctions 18 and 20 at Rochdale and the M60 route from junction eight to 18 will go live this year, drawing to a close the 17-mile £208m works.
This will see an end to the permanent 50mph speed limit and highways bosses promise congestion will be eased, especially at peak times.
But how exactly will this motorway system, entirely new to the north-west, change our lives?
We went to the Highways England Regional Control centre in Wakefield to find out. Our guide is Dave Skupski, operations manger for Highways England.
We asked Dave every question we could think of to prepare drivers for the new smart motorways.
Here are the highlights:
●●HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP A SMART MOTORWAY?
It uses the latest technology to monitor traffic levels and variable speed limits are displayed on overhead electronic signs to keep vehicles moving.
CCTV is used 24 hours a day to enable staff here to respond quickly to incidents, closing lanes using red ‘X’s on overhead signs if necessary. On the M60 and M62 the hard shoulder’s being converted into an extra lane on a five-mile stretch of the M62, junctions 18 to 20 at Rochdale.
Around 200 new electronic signs are being installed along the entire 17-mile route between Sale and Rochdale, junction eight of the M60, to junction 20 of the M62.
They’ll show drivers the speed limits and warnings based on traffic flow.
●●WHY HAVE YOU BUILT THEM?
The smart motorway helps tackle the stop-start conditions using the variable speed limits and opening up the hard shoulder on parts of the M62 during busy times to target congestion.
●●DO THEY ACTUALLY WORK?
I’ve worked here for nine years and I’ve definitely seen a difference; there’s less congestion and the technology makes the smart motorways so much easier to manage.
Our M62 smart motorway’s now been open more than five years.
Drivers using the M62 are saving up to 30 minutes each week even as the number of people using it increases.
According to the statistics, people travelling westbound to Brighouse from Leeds are saving nearly five minutes a day.
That’s even as the number of drivers using has increased by six per cent to 155,000 a day on the busiest stretch between junction 26 and junction 27 of the M621.
On the M62 opening in September, the hard shoulder along the entire section is being turned into an extra lane ●●HOW WILL I KNOW IF THE HARD SHOULDER IS OPEN AS A LANE?
The overhead signs will clearly display when the hard shoulder is available to use with a speed shown above the lane and a message indicating you can use it.
If the signs are blank or a red ‘X’ is shown the lane is not available and should only be used in an emergency. ●●WHAT DO I DO IF I BREAK DOWN OR PULL OVER IN A SECTION WITH NO HARD SHOULDER? In those sections emergency refuge areas are in place – where drivers can stop and use the roadside telephones to contact the control centre.
These are positioned every 2km – or every 75 seconds for a car travelling at 60mph. ●●WHAT HAPPENS IF I HAVE TO PULL OVER ON A HARD SHOULDER BEING USED AS A LANE?
The vast majority of drivers manage to get to a place of safety if they are having difficulties – the emergency refuge areas or a motorway exit.
Should that not be the case and there’s a break down in a lane being used for traffic the smart motorway technology allows us to close the lane, show an ‘X’ and direct traffic to use the other lanes and our traffic officers will attend and provide support to help clear the vehicle to a safe place.