£6bn to ease congestion

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has announced a £6bn package of measures to help reduce traffic congestion in the UK, including an extension of the hard shoulder running trial that has been conducted on the M42 near Birmingham.So called ‘Active Traffic Management’ will be introduced over some of the UK’s busiest motorways, bringing variable speed limits and allowing local traffic to use the hard shoulder between junctions. The Government plans to roll it out on the M3 and M4 near London, the M4 and M5 around Bristol and M3 and M27 near Southampton.The proposal also includes plans to widen stretches of both the M1 and the M25. The A1 will be upgraded to motorway standard – presumably as the A1(M) near Wetherby in Yorkshire, and the last ‘gap’ in the main M6/M74 route from Carlisle to Glasgow will also be turned into motorway.Local areas will also receive funds for congestion-easing projects, but in some cases these will be operated in conjunction with congestion charge trials. Kelly also restated the Government’s intention to look into the creation of ‘High Occupancy Lanes’ which can only be used by vehicles containing more than one person and also the possibility of extra tolled lanes on certain busy routes.