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Rapid removal avoids jams
Page 9
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Transport Secretary Alistair Darling is backing calls to cut the amount of time motorway lanes are closed following an accident
The Highways Agency. which manages the motorway and trunk road network, has been told to come up with Initiatives to squeeze more use out of the road network.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport says the focus will bean removing damaged vehicles and debris more quickly after accidents: "We are asking the Highways Agency to see if that process can be speeded up, albeit sensitively, because lives are sometimes lost."
In a recent Freight Transport Association survey 75% of its members favoured "swift and robust clearance of damaged vehicles" rather than more sensitive recovery which is designed to minimise damage to the vehicle and Its load.
F74 spokesman Geoff Dossetter says: "The crucial issue is that with the limited lufra-structure we have got, without spending millions of pounds Improving and expanding it you simply have to maximise what you get out of It "Over the past six months or so, we have noticed that accidents result in motorway closures far more frequently than In the past," he adds.
A spokeswoman for the Highways Agency says the appointment of "road stewards" over the past 18 months shows It accepts the need to restore normal traffic flows as quickly as possible: "Stewards have to call out incident support units within, say, 20 minutes of an accident to do things like mend a barrier or do some patching of the road."