New system to free motorway blockages
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• by Guy Sheppard A new traffic management system could help eliminate motorway bottlenecks by controlling the flow of vehicles on entry slip roads.
Six sites on the M3 and the M27 around Southampton are being used by the Highways Agency to pilot the system over the next year.
Called ramp metering, it links traffic lights on slip roads with road sensors that measure the volume of traffic travelling along the motorway The lights turn green when the sensors indicate it is safe for vehicles to join the motorway.
Brian Harbord, project manager for the scheme on the M27, says the aim is to reduce "stop-start" traffic flows caused by a sudden influx of traffic from junctions.
This reduces capacity and sends shock waves back up the motorway. Truck drivers will benefit from the fact that traffic moves at a nice, steady speed.'' He adds that the distance between the traffic lights and the inside lane of the motorway is long enough for trucks to build up sufficient speed to join the inside lane smoothly, The system does not try to identify a specific gap for each vehicle; it just lets two or three through at a time."
The pilot will cost £4m. Ramp metering is already used throughout the United States, Holland and France.
The Highways Agency wants feedback from drivers about the system to be channelled through its hotline on 08457 504030. Leaflets about the system are available at motorway service stations near Southampton.
• Speed humps could become Illegal following the success of a Sheffield taxi driver in pushing for a judicial review.
David Prior, who is fighting Sheffield City Council. has based his case on a DETR leaflet which says; "No road hump shall be placed within 25m of a tunnel, bridge or culvert" He argues that a culvert Includes sub-surface pipes carrying electric cables, telephone cables, sewers and drains. This means that all humps are illegal, says Prior.