The Highways Agency and Department for Transport have opened a public consultation on whether to make part of the M4 a ‘smart motorway’.
Under the proposal the motorway – which links London to the west of England and Wales as well as Heathrow – would become a smart motorway between junction 3 (Haynes) and junction 12 (Theale) by using technology to monitor and improve traffic flow and adjust the speed limit accordingly.
The HA and DfT are also considering converting the hard shoulder to a traffic lane as has already been done sections of both the M1 and M25. The M4 carries a claimed 130,000 vehicles per day and that figure is forecast to increase to 160,000 vehicles over the next 20 years.
The public consultation runs until December 21 and can be found here.
