Smart motorways blamed as road journeys become slower

THE Government’s smart motorway roll-out is to blame for a drop in average driving speeds, the RAC has said.

Data published by the Department for Transport yesterday showed motorists suffered a 3.9 per cent rise in delays on England’s motorways last year.

Journeys on the strategic road network, managed by Government-owned company Highways England, took an average of 9.4 seconds per mile longer than if vehicles were able to drive at the speed limit, according to the figures.

This is up from 9.0 seconds during the previous year.

The data suggest driving along a 10mile section of road with a 60mph limit typically took 11 minutes and 34 seconds last year, compared with 10 min- utes in free-flowing conditions.

It comes at a time when many roads are being upgraded to so-called “smart motorways” that use traffic management methods to boost capacity and cut congestion in busy areas.

Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said: “More congestion means more wasted time and money, which is clearly bad news for drivers, but it may be a case of short-term pain for longerterm gain.

“Much work is being carried out on our motorways to improve capacity … but this inevitably causes delays.”

Edmund King, AA president, said: “The problem is that, with the billions of pounds raised from fuel duty and other motoring taxes, only a third gets reinvested back into the road network.”