[Politics] New smart motorway plans being scrapped

[[Depo]]

The building of all new smart motorways is being cancelled over cost and safety concerns, the government has announced.

Some 14 planned schemes, including 11 already on pause and three set for construction, will be scrapped due to finances and low public confidence.

Smart motorways are a stretch of road where technology is used to regulate traffic flow and ease congestion.

They also use the hard shoulder as an extra lane of traffic, which critics claim has led to road deaths.

Existing smart motorways - making up 10% of England's motorway network - will remain and undergo a previously announced safety refit to create 150 more emergency stopping places and improved technology.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - who pledged to ban smart motorways during his leadership campaign - said "all drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country".

Are smart motorways dangerous?
The Department for Transport said the new schemes would have cost more than £1bn, and cancelling them would allow time to track public trust in smart motorways over a longer period.

 

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65288852