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P CONGESTION
Page 9
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Highways Agency lukewarm over moveable barriers
THE HIGHWAYS AGENCY says it is not pursuing the use of Quick Change Moveable Barriers (QMBs) to ease congestion, despite a study showing they could reduce delays by more than 70%.
QMBs provide an extra lane for traffic on the motorway by converting the central reserve into a usable route. The system is often used on the M20 during Operation Stack to help the flow of traffic.
A Transport Research Laboratory report that relied on a computer program to determine their effectiveness found that they would cut delays on part of the M3 by 72% and on a stretch of the M25 by 65%. However, when the model was applied to the M62I by creating a contraflow lane, it increased delays.
An HA spokesman says: "The report considered tidal flows, which we are not pursuing. We are looking at it more from a road works management route, rather than traffic flow."