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Plan promises pile-up chaos
Page 14
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Recovery vehicles won't have room to
gather speed, writes Guy Sheppard AN EXPERIMENTAL traffic management scheme could cause motorway pile-ups because it does not allow enough space for removing broken down trucks, claim vehicle recovery operators.
Both the Association of Vehicle Recovery Operators and the Road Rescue Recovery Association say the new emergency refuge areas (ERAs) on the M42 in the West Midlands are not long enough.
ERAs are being built between junction 3A and 7, allowing the hard shoulder to be used as a fourth lane in periods of peak congestion. If successful, they will be introduced on other motorways as well.
Peter Cosby, RRRA chairman, says a consultation meeting last week revealed that engineers had not realised the combined weight of a truck and recovery vehicle could be nearly 70 tonnes. He claims there will only be 15m to build up sufficient speed to rejoin the traffic when half a mile is needed.
"There are going to be serious accidents when getting out with vehicles glancing off you and going into the next lane. We're talking about multiple pile-ups."
However a spokesman for the Highways Agency says it is taking the concerns of the trade associations on board.
He adds that ERAs will not be used in isolation and but in conjunction with other innovations, such as variable speed limits.