WORK is to start on a project to upgrade the smart motorway on the M4 – just a year after the works were completed.
It took more than four years for National Highways to complete the 32-mile stretch of works on the motorway between junction 3 in London and junction 12 for Reading West/Theale.
The project saw an additional lane of traffic created by removing the hard shoulder and creating refuges.
But National Highways is preparing to launch a project to install more emergency areas on a slew of roads across the south east, including 12 on the M4 between junctions 10 and 12.
Twenty-four new emergency areas are planned for two sections of the M25 between junctions 23 and 27 in Hertfordshire and Essex and between junctions 5 and 7 in Surrey and Kent, with work starting from Thursday, April 25.
And there will be 10 new areas installed on the M3 between junctions 2 and 4a.
National Highways says it will build more than 150 new emergency areas across the country as revisions to the smart motorway scheme continue.
Emergency areas are 100 metres long and are equipped with emergency telephones linking directly to National Highways control rooms.
National Highways Project Sponsor Felicity Clayton said: “Safety is our highest priority and we have listened to drivers’ concerns about having more places to stop in an emergency on motorways which don’t have a permanent hard shoulder.
“This is part of the Government’s £900 million investment in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways, which includes adding an additional 150 emergency areas across the network and giving motorists clear advice when using smart motorways to boost public confidence.”
During construction works, the left-hand lane will be closed, with lanes two, three and four having a 50mph speed limit in place.
All existing emergency areas on the M25, M20, M3, M27 and M4 will remain open wherever possible throughout construction and a free recovery service will be available through the roadworks.
Drivers are advised to plan ahead and allow more time for their journeys.
They can use real-time traffic information for England’s motorways at trafficengland.com as well as Twitter updates by following @NationalHways.
