Drivers who breakdown on a section of the M20 could face the “terrifying experience” of being trapped in fast moving traffic under plans to scrap the hard shoulder.
The Highways Agency want to turn the carriageway set aside for emergencies into a “running lane” as a cheaper alternative to road widening.
The plans for “hard-shoulder running” would also involve cutting the number of emergency lay-bys.
The agency – currently £3 billion over budget in its road building programme – say it would save millions on the proposals which affect motorways up and down the country.
Widening a major highway costs £40 million a mile whereas the conversion costs £10 million.
The plans propose that traffic safety and driver assistance would be in the hands of CCTV operators who would close down the hard shoulder with a series of “X” figures on overhead gantries when they spotted a vehicle in trouble.
The idea is still in its early stages but a stretch of the M20 in the middle of the county is one of the areas under consideration although not confirmed.
Nationwide more than 250 miles of the busiest motorways have been suggested including sections of the M25, M23, M6 and M4 as well as a major section of the M1 stretching from the Midlands to the North East.
It is being trialled along the M42 east of Birmingham during busy periods and the Highways Agency said there had been “minor collisions” but no deaths or serious injuries.
This had persuaded bosses that the scheme was workable.
However it has come under fire from motoring organisation the AA.
Edmund King, its president, said: “The agency is jumping the gun by reducing the number of refuges [lay-bys and hard shoulder].
“We are concerned that motorists will be caught short, unable to reach the next refuge and having the terrifying experience of being stopped amid fast-flowing traffic.”
The Campaign for Better Transport also disapprove of the plans.
Campaigner Richard George said: “Ministers tried to sell ‘hard-shoulder running’ as a greener alternative to widening.
“But they keep moving the goalposts and are turning it into a polluting and risky way of squeezing every last inch of capacity out of our roads.”
POSTED: 22/06/2008 08:00:00