Truck-only access plan for M-ways
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• Lorries could be given priori ty access to Britain's motorways if plans outlined in a Government consultation paper come into force. tinder Department of Transport (DOT) proposals aimed at reducing congestion without the need for road widening, busy motorway junctions could be closed to private motorists at peak hours, and hard shoulders turned into lorry lanes.
"Consideration could be given to limiting access to the most congested parts of the core motorway network to ensure that strategic commercial and industrial traffic keeps moving," says the paper, What Role for Thick Roads in England?
It identifies stretches of London's M25, and adjoining lengths of the M4, M3, M23 and A2/M2, plus sections of the M6 and M42 in the West Midlands, as requiring special attention.
Other proposals under con sideration include high-occupancy schemes, giving lane-use priority to vehicles carrying two or more passengers, and ramp metering, using traffic lights on slip roads to prevent vehicles joining motorway jams (already in use on sections of the M6).
The ideas will be considered in time for inclusion in next spring's white paper on integrated transport. "We're not ruling anything in or out at the moment," says the DOT.