The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the potential conversion of the hard shoulder on the M25 between Kent and Surrey to a traffic lane.
The plan to reclaim the hard shoulder, suggested as part of the scheme to deliver the motorway’s first managed motorway scheme.
A similar scheme was successfully piloted on the M42 in 2006, which resulted in accident rates falling by more than fifty per cent over a three-year period.
James Hookham, FTA managing director – policy and communications said: “FTA feels that the proposal of what is essentially ‘creating an extra lane on the M25’ is good news for this particularly busy stretch of motorway.
“Some may see it as the Highways Agency widening on the cheap, but we feel that this will give motorists and most importantly our members extra capacity and will help to keep the motorway moving.”
According to the Highways Agency, work on the managed motorway upgrade is due to start in 2013/14 subject to completion of statutory processes.