Smart Motorways

In the last decade there have been huge changes on some of England's busiest motorways. Where once you could rely on three lanes and a hard shoulder, now there are countless new electronic signs, road markings and rules.

These schemes have gone by various names in the past but now the Highways Agency refers to them all as "Smart Motorways". This page explains what they are.

What are Smart Motorways?

Any section of motorway that has been upgraded with new technology — electronic signs, intensive CCTV monitoring, enforcement cameras and so on — is now considered a "Smart Motorway", regardless of the different ways in which these schemes operate across the country. This work is done to help reduce congestion and keep traffic moving.

Congestion on the M25
Congestion on the M25

During the 1990s various countries around the world experimented with using improved technology to control traffic on motorways, either to increase the capacity of the road or to reduce the severity of congestion. In the UK this included trials of ramp metering (where traffic is sometimes held back on entrance sliproads) and variable speed limits.

In 2006 the Highways Agency began a trial of what it called "Active Traffic Management" on the M42 between junctions 3A and 7 east of Birmingham. This included ramp metering, variable speed limits and trials of hard shoulder running. This experiment was considered a success and, in various forms, Active Traffic Management was then installed on other congested motorways. Today it has all but replaced conventional motorway widening projects, and many of the proposals to widen motorways that were made in the late 1990s or early 2000s have now been carried out using ATM instead.

Each upgrade scheme incorporates slightly different elements of the Active Traffic Management concept, depending on traffic levels, the engineering standard of the road to which it is being applied and the sort of improvement that is being attempted. For example, in some locations hard shoulder running is not included because the road doesn't have continuous hard shoulders; in other places ramp metering is not included because the volume of traffic joining the motorway is not thought to be one of the causes of congestion there.

In 2013, the Highways Agency took the decision to use the new term "Smart Motorways" for all the different systems of control operating across England's motorway network. "Smart" is a term that is increasingly used to describe intelligent technology, like smartphones, which is probably why it was chosen as a name. It can also mean clever or fast, both of which are positive associations for these Highways Agency flagship projects. (In Scotland, similar schemes exist with similar technology, but Transport Scotland uses the name "Intelligent Transport System" to describe them.)

The word "smart" comes from the Old English word smeortan, which was used to describe something that caused sharp pain, and is related to the Greek word smerdnos meaning something terrible or dreadful. At times, those definitions can seem fairly appropriate too.

A rose by any other name...

There have been many names for the various control systems that have been installed on English motorways since the early 1990s. These are just a few of the terms you may have come across before.

  • Variable Speed Limits were introduced on the M25 in 1995.
  • Ramp Metering has been on use on the M6 in the West Midlands for about 20 years and was trialled in further locations nationwide in the early 2000s.
  • Active Traffic Management was the name of the pilot scheme operated on the M42 incorporating Variable Speed Limits, Ramp Metering and other new ideas.
  • Controlled Motorways was used for a short time to refer to ATM schemes and is still sometimes used in reference to areas where Variable Speed Limits operate.
  • Managed Motorways referred to ATM schemes for several years.
  • Smart Motorways was adopted in 2013 as the name for all ATM and variable speed limit schemes of any kind, so that every system that uses increased technology to improve traffic flow now operates under this name.

What might I see on a Smart Motorway?

Overhead control signals

On any type of Smart Motorway, the ability to relay information to motorists is vital, and this is almost always done using overhead signals mounted on gantries spanning the road. These are often very frequent.

Overhead signal gantry
Overhead signal gantry
Overhead signal showing lane allocations
Overhead signal showing lane allocations

There are, broadly, two types of signal: small signals mounted individually over each traffic lane (and often over the hard shoulder), and larger signals capable of displaying complex graphics and multiple lines of text, usually mounted over the hard shoulder or verge.

Signals over each lane can be used to indicate whether lanes are open or closed and to indicate speed limits. Digital speed cameras may be mounted behind them.

Large signal panels display information that applies to the whole road, such as written indications that the hard shoulder is open, or about delays further ahead, or even graphical signs indicating the arrangement of lanes at a junction.

Roadside control signals

On a few Smart Motorway schemes, usually on longer lengths of rural motorway where there are fewer junctions, signals positioned by the roadside may be used instead of frequent overhead gantries. These take the form of large panels, capable of displaying complex messages and graphics, and indicate lane allocations, written instructions or variable speed limits.

Lengths of motorway equipped with roadside signals instead of overhead signals are a little less versatile because there are fewer signals available and each signal can only display one message at a time. That makes it impossible to convey information about the hard shoulder, speed limits and lane closures at the same time.

Variable speed limits

Users of the M25 have been familiar with Variable Speed Limits since the mid-1990s. Unlike advisory speed limits that can be shown on electronic signals on normal motorways, variable speed limits are mandatory, and appear on overhead or roadside signals with a red circle, resembling a normal speed limit sign.

A sign advising of Variable Speed Limits on approach to the M20. Click to enlarge
A sign advising of Variable Speed Limits on approach to the M20. Click to enlarge

Variable speed limits are a feature of all Smart Motorway schemes. They are used to reduce congestion by reducing the speed limit in order to prevent stop-start traffic jams. By slowing traffic they also increase the capacity of the road, because slower vehicles travel more closely together, making better use of the available road space.

All variable speed limits are enforced by digital speed cameras mounted over every traffic lane.

Part time hard shoulder running

Part time hard shoulder running. Click to enlarge
Part time hard shoulder running. Click to enlarge

Many Smart Motorways incorporate hard shoulder running, which enables the hard shoulder to be opened to traffic as an extra lane when the road is particularly busy. This provides an instant increase in capacity and helps to keep everybody moving rather than suffer congestion caused by the volume of traffic.

The earliest trials of hard shoulder running opened it to traffic between junctions simply for use as an extended exit lane, so traffic leaving at the next junction would be directed to use the hard shoulder (like in the picture to the left), which would then turn into the sliproad.

In most cases, the installation of extra signalling and rotating panels on fixed blue direction signs now permit hard shoulder running to continue through junctions as well, if needed. In these locations, the hard shoulder is marked as a normal traffic lane from a point before the exit sliproad to a point after the entry sliproad. Signals and signs then indicate whether the hard shoulder is open and which traffic should use it — either only those exiting, or all traffic.

If the hard shoulder is not open to traffic, signals clearly indicate this, and traffic entering or leaving at the junction simply moves across the hard shoulder as though it was an empty traffic lane.

All lane running

Some sections of motorway now operate All Lane Running (ALR), which is a rather euphemistic term that actually means the hard shoulder has been converted into a permanent running lane.

Something missing? All Lane Running on the M25, J5-6. Click to enlarge
Something missing? All Lane Running on the M25, J5-6. Click to enlarge

This tends to happen on sections of motorways that are so busy — and so frequently overloaded or congested — that hard shoulder running would be necessary for most or all of the day. In these circumstances it's considered simpler and easier to just use the hard shoulder as an extra lane all the time and avoid the need to make such heavy use of the electronic signalling.

ALR is, arguably, a way of widening a motorway without having to actually widen it, and instead just settling for an increase in width at the expense of the standard of the road.

Emergency refuges

Emergency refuge area. Click to enlarge
Emergency refuge area. Click to enlarge

Any Smart Motorway scheme that involves some element of hard shoulder running will have emergency refuges installed. These take the form of long, wide lay-bys at the back of the hard shoulder, equipped with emergency telephones and CCTV. In the event that a vehicle breaks down or needs to make an emergency stop, it can use an emergency refuge to get off the road.

The Highways Agency encourages the use of the refuges even if the hard shoulder is not in use as they get vehicles further away from live traffic lanes.

On the original Active Traffic Management trial scheme, emergency refuges were installed every 500m (550 yards), but that standard has been progressively relaxed to reduce the cost of Smart Motorway schemes and now on some sections of road (such as the M6 in the West Midlands, parts of which are elevated on a viaduct) the refuges can be spaced more than twice that distance apart.

Ramp metering

Where the volume of traffic joining the motorway causes serious problems, ramp metering can be used to smooth out the number of vehicles joining from a sliproad. Traffic lights placed on the sliproad change from red to green and back every few seconds, allowing a steady trickle of vehicles through and avoiding platoons of traffic attempting to merge all at once.

Ramp metering improves flow on the mainline of the motorway but can add to the congestion experienced by traffic trying to join. It has been tried in many places on the motorway network but in many of those locations has been switched off again as it was not found to be suitable. It is also often attacked by regular users of the motorway as being simply a way of moving congestion off the motorway and on to the local road network.

Enforcement cameras

Speed cameras. Click to enlarge
Speed cameras. Click to enlarge

Digital speed cameras mounted on some overhead signal gantries are linked to the variable speed limit system, and their trigger speed will change when the speed limit changes.

When the speed limit is reduced, the cameras will not change until a short time after the signs have changed, so there is no need to brake if a signal changes right in front of you. Only after a grace period will the camera begin to enforce the new limit.

When the speed limit is increased, the cameras change immediately so that motorists speeding up are not penalised for accelerating towards the new higher limit.

In free-flowing traffic, where there is no speed limit indicated on electronic signs, the National Speed Limit of 70mph applies and the cameras will normally only trigger at speeds some way above 70.

How do Smart Motorways work?

Movement of traffic is the whole purpose of Smart Motorways, so it's vital that the speed and volume of traffic is monitored all the time, in every lane. This is done using one of the least noticeable parts of the system: inductive loops embedded in each lane at regular intervals. These are used all over the road network — commonly to detect vehicles approaching traffic signals so that they change to green. Here they can be used to count the number of vehicles passing along each lane and also to gauge the overall speed of traffic.

A system of CCTV cameras along the length of the road is also capable of identifying vehicles in traffic lanes and estimating their speed, giving an accurate measure of whether each individual lane is moving and how fast.

CCTV camera. Click to enlarge
CCTV camera. Click to enlarge

The loops and cameras feed their data into a central computer system that keeps track of how many vehicles are on the motorway and where they are. When traffic becomes heavy and flow starts to break down, the system will automatically adjust speed limits in an effort to keep it moving.

Not everything about the system is automated, though: supervision is needed to manage the use of the hard shoulder and to spot any problems as they happen, such as vehicles broken down and unable to get out of the way of traffic. The blanket CCTV coverage allows every inch of tarmac to be monitored.

The CCTV cameras, and the actions of the automated computer controller, are fed into a control centre where Highways Agency staff continually monitor what's happening and can intervene or override the automatic system. They can also communicate with Highways Agency Traffic Officers on the ground and direct them towards incidents.

Why do they take so long to install?

Compared to many road maintenance or upgrade schemes, Smart Motorway schemes can be relatively quick: the Highways Agency claims it can progress a Smart Motorway upgrade to construction in two years, compared to ten years for a traditional widening project. So if the road isn't physically being widened, why do the roadworks sometimes drag on for a year or — sometimes — two?

The minimum requirement is a communications upgrade: this involves running new communication cables down the verges of the motorway (and sometimes down the central reservation too) which supply power to the new electronic equipment and connect it all to the control centre. This job is usually clearly visible while it's happening because all the new cabling is installed in bright purple plastic piping which is often strung along the sides of the carriageway while it's being fitted. This work, in itself, is not too disruptive.

The central barrier being replaced as part of a Smart Motorway scheme
The central barrier being replaced as part of a Smart Motorway scheme

Almost all Smart Motorway schemes will also require the installation of signal gantries — which at a minimum will require a closure of the motorway to lift the overhead beams into place. The construction of supports and foundations often involves lane closures and other roadworks that affect traffic. Depending on their location and the work needed to make space for them, Emergency Refuge Areas can also require considerable work and disruption.

If hard shoulder running will feature, it's usually the case that there needs to be work to strengthen the hard shoulder so that it can carry a full traffic load. In many places the hard shoulder was originally built on a shallower foundation than the main carriageway, and stripping the surface away to reconstruct its foundation can mean months of lane closures and traffic restrictions.

Some Smart Motorway schemes have taken years to install — far longer than the work above could explain. This is where the installation of the Smart Motorway infrastructure has happened when the motorway was already due for major maintenance work. In these cases, the Smart Motorway scheme might be combined with full-depth carriageway reconstruction, in which the whole road surface and road bed of the entire motorway is stripped away to its foundation and rebuilt again. This work can take years. Very often, Smart Motorways also come with the removal of the existing central reservation and its replacement with new drainage channels and continuous concrete barrier.

Future projects

In April 2023, after several years where all new schemes were "paused", the government announced the scrapping of all future Smart Motorway projects. We published a detailed blog post exploring the news.

Elsewhere on
Roads.org.uk...

Comments

David Lawrenson 25 July 2017

Why is the near 20-mile stretch of the M6 in Staffordshire taking so long to upgrade? I believe it will take over two years to complete having been worked on for at least a year so far!

David Wright 25 July 2017

I regularly travel the M3 "Smart" motorway section and find the "emergency" areas a joke! So my cars engine dies or I get a blow out where the hell do i stop if not next to an emergency area? There will be a serious accident without the hard shoulder and perhaps then they will realise the "Smart " motorway is not that smart after all!!!

There are lots of emergency refuge areas but if you have to stop in lane 1 there is 100% pan-tilt-zoom CCTV and RADAR technology to immediately alert the Regional Control Center. Before you can get hit, and before you know it, a red X will appear in your lane and traffic will stay away from you.

Having driven down the M42 a few years ago, finding a breakdown on the hard shoulder (which was open to traffic at the time) I have to say this does not appear to happen as quickly as necessary on some occasions.
I like the additional capacity that Smart Motorways generally bring, but I'm yet to be convinced that the safety levels of a 3-lane Smart Motorway with hard-shoulder-running are equal to a classic 4-lane motorway.

It takes up to 20 mins for you to be noticed . They are so dangerous

Every driver in the UK should have to be trained on how to come to a stop on a smart motorway. (To keep their license). The procedure would be as follows:
-Switch lanes out of the path of any lorry, and turn on hazard lights until you are 20 mph under the flow of traffic (or under 35 mph 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘦), where you no longer have to use signals. (55 would be the maximum speed limit for ALR).
For 1/4 mile behind the driver, the (typically white) lane markings light up red, indicating the creation of a temporary shoulder in that lane.
Only then will ALR be safe.
One final note. My personal opinion is that traditional widenings should be used whenever they can without demolition. But I would not count ALR out entirely, as if urban road schemes ever become common again, ALR would be one of several design choices necessary to squeeze as many lanes as possible out of as little ROW as can be found. That, or the threat of mass demolition would make any future urban motorway go the way of the Ringways.

As of January 2020 I believe that the current estimate is another three years before all "smart" motorways will have such technology up and running, and that average response times to lane 1 breakdowns is 17 minutes.

Assuming the road users obey the overhead gantries which of course many do not. Unless the barrier is physical this form of traffic control is hopelessly flawed.

Maltonman 19 August 2017

The reason they take so long is that there seem to be long periods of time when no-one is apparently constructing anything at all! Other civil engineering projects can be speeded up - see Birmingham New Street Station where people worked all the time. I have heard it said that Civil Engineering Projects can be Good Quick and Cheap - as long as you settle for two out of three!! If you want it cheap then in takes an age or it will break down next week.

Difference between New Street Station and a road is that the materials used to construct a road need certain temperatures before they can be laid, and then you have to allow time for the materials to set before the next course can be laid.

Alex Smith 26 August 2017

There's a minor mistake in the first picture of "Overhead control signals". The "hollow red X" symbol that you show there is used on hard shoulders while they're functioning as a hard shoulder, so it's very weird seeing it on the rightmost lane. Based on context, I assume it's meant to be a closed lane, rather than a hard shoulder; in this case, the X would have a solid centre (i.e. no small diamond of the background colour in the centre), and also be surrounded by flashing red lights (IIRC, red lights for a lane closure flash from side to side, so that even people who have difficulty distinguishing colours can tell them apart at long distance from the more common amber lights, which flash up and down).

Tony Richards 18 October 2017

It amazes me how they can get away with calling them managed motorways.
The more appropriate term would be mismanaged motorways. I travel the M5 and M6 daily and I can tell you with 100% accuracy the speed limit before I leave my house because they are always set at the same limit despite what the traffic is doing. The favourite is 60 mph then down to 40 mph for 2 gantries and then back to 60. Not bad when the motorway is clear and nothing is happening to have any speed restrictions in place (junction 10 up to the M54)
This obviously is the definition of "manged motorways"

stefan slater 15 November 2017

I don't think Smart motorways are all that they are cracked up to be.
I have noticed that they are cutting corners. For example, The smart motorway around Leeds the gantry's look quality. The new gantry's around Manchester look cheap and nasty.

I think they just reused the old ones.

Rich 7 March 2018

I travel almost daily on the M25 Smart section between junctions 6 & 7. The number of times I've seen a broken down car or lorry on the inside lane stopped & people ignoring the smart signs & almost crashing into the back of the stranded vehicle is ludicrously high.
The number of times the gantries post "40" when the traffic is flowing freely & moving without incident is also notable.

I think your first frustration is answered by your second. I find that the signage just cannot be trusted: “accident”, “congestion”, “debris in road”, “stranded vehicle” and, like you say, dubious speed limit reductions stragically placed on a speed camera sites all lead to distrust.

Gordon Broiwnlee 21 August 2018

Who manufactures the large digital Smart Motorway signs?

Bob 4 December 2018

Without a hard shoulder, how does a vehicle build up enough speed to rejoin the running lanes safely - especially a large lorry (which wouldn't fit most of the little refuges anyway)?

The same way it would on any other road without a hard shoulder - such as from an A-road lay-by?

In most cases an HGV that has had to make an emergency stop in a refuge area on a Smart Motorway will do so with the assistance of traffic officers and with lane 1 closed by the electronic signals - in theory, at least.

Paul Gibson 10 April 2019

How can you call them smart motorways when they are using concrete central reservations which when you have an accident all the cars behind it could be trapped and unable to pass and depending on the Police investigation could close the motorway for days. You cannot use a contraflow system even if you only want to repair the motorway this cannot help to keep traffic flowing.

Concrete central reservations have removable sections at regular intervals that can be used to release traffic trapped after an accident or to set up contraflows.

Sammi 20 April 2019

The gantry sign showing a large orange ball with a black line running across it from bottom right to top left is telling drivers what.

Susan Richards 16 May 2019

Are lorries allowed in all 3 lanes of a 4 lane smart motorway?

Gerry McKenna 24 October 2019

Interesting comments from Highways England Chief Executive about Smart motorways are "too complicated for people to use"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50159162

Without being political have HE only just realised that these "Smart motorways" are just NOT safe.

Alexander Lee 18 November 2019

I cannot believe why in this modern time on existing M4 takes 2.5 years to convert to Smart Motorways from junction 13 to 3. It so frustrating to drive this M4 every day for 2.5 years on 50mph and to see how slow the progress are. There are no reason for snail pace progress in relation to fast pace pay checks of over 100k a year from 8 to over 60 executives. If one can employed more qualified executives with exorbitant pay them one expect the motorway to complete quicker than 2.5 years.

The M4 scheme involves reconstruction of bridges over and under the motorway, excavating the former hard shoulder out to the bottom of the road bed and rebuilding it, reconstructing the whole of the central reservation, installing a reinforced concrete barrier and numerous other changes to earthworks, drainage, pavement and technology. Those things cannot all be done at once while maintaining six lanes of moving traffic. So while I'm sympathetic to anyone who has to spend nearly three years driving through extensive road works at reduced speed, I can't agree that the deciding factor on the duration of the work is how many senior managers receive big pay checks.

You can only do so much work at a time on a road that is open to traffic. The alternatives are to reduce the number of lanes open to traffic to increase the amount of space there is in which to work, which will cause chronic congestion, or to close the motorway altogether, which will be even worse, or to not do the work at all. You can employ as many or as few high-paid executives as you like but those plain facts do not change.

Tom Perrott 23 February 2020

Smart Motorways. Please can we have comments from drivers of Emergency vehicles.. i.e. H A drivers, breakdown and recovery
vehicles, Ambulances and Fire and Rescue Vehicles.
When `safe` Hard Shoulders were introduced in the 1960`s the Chartered Civil and Highway Engineers did so as to introduce the most safe Highways possible. Remember there was NO speed limit at that time.

John Gilchrist 15 August 2020

Why do all the messages on the roads have to be so negative. It was a beautiful day when I was out driving last Sunday. All the signs on the roads said yellow warning, heavy rains forecast. It has been beautiful all week, not a drop of rain. Why show such a negative message, when the sun is shining. Let us enjoy the sunshine please, Can we not see some positive messages to make all the drivers feel better. 'Enjoy the sunshine', 'road ahead clear; 'no delays on the motorways', anything that could cheer us up. With everything that is going on at the moment, we need to see some positive messages out there and there must be thousands of people in cars passing them every day. A nice positive message would lift out spirits. STop telling us it is raining when there is not a cloud in the sky and 26 degrees.

Joe Chamberlain 6 November 2022

I drive along the M27 between Portsmouth and Southampton at least once per week. It has taken countless years of distruptions, closures and delays to complete (and I'm not sure if it is complete yet, as of Nov 22) and the result is often puzzling. Drivers are regularly presented with signs saying something like "Report of Obstruction" together with a variable speed restriction of 40 or 50mph. The restriction remains for 5 miles or so, then inexplicable ends - there is never any obstruction. If this motorway is Smart, why does the sign not say "Obstruction in lane 2 in 750 metres" or similar? That would actually be useful information which drivers could use to inform their behaviour. There is supposed to be Smart CCVT surveylance on every inch of the motorway afterall. The purpose of every sign has to be to provide drivers with information for them to act on - if it is not clear what actions need to be taken or the information is unreliable, the sign should not be presented. There are many other odd behaviours of this Smart motorway. It is very difficult to understand what you are supposed to do sometimes and it is clear that many drivers are confused, I have seen some very dangerous situations arise as a result of this confusion. It would be very useful to have a drivers user-guide for the system - so we can understand how it works, what it actually does, what all the range of signage and information actually means, which driver's behaviours are enforced and which are advisory and how drivers are supposed to behave.

Tony 20 January 2023

is there any way of finding out what wa displayed on a motorway gantry speed limit sign for a specific date, i have been caught doing 50mph through a 40mph on the M1, i'm sure the gantry sign was displaying 50mph

Thanks for the link Chris, i have e-mailed them with the request.

Add new comment

About text formats

Restricted HTML

  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol start type> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
All comments posted to Roads.org.uk are moderated before appearing online. Your comment won't be visible immediately.

Picture credits

Routes

With thanks to Toby Speight for information on this page.

What's new

Oxford's Ground Zero

Oxford's Zero Emission Zone is just a trial, but transport policy in Oxford has become the catalyst for pitched battles and drawn in protestors from across the UK. What's happening to this genteel university town?

2023 end of year message

It’s been a quiet year for Roads.org.uk, but we will be back to our usual schedule soon.

London’s other forgotten motorways

We’ve spent years documenting the unbuilt urban motorway network planned for London. Today we’re unveiling more new routes that have never been seen before!

Share this page

Have you seen...

A470 End to End

The road that connects Wales together, but which nobody really uses... All five hours of the A470, from Llandudno to Cardiff, are here.

About this page

Published

Last updated