Highways bosses have been accused of introducing smart motorways by stealth to avoid public scrutiny.
An independent report said that motorists had been repeatedly misled over the expansion of motorways without a hard shoulder, often being provided with “incomplete information”.
The analysis, commissioned by the Irwin Mitchell, a law firm, said that there had been more effective consultation into changes to bus stops than hundreds of miles of smart motorways.
More than ten years ago the government first signalled plans to introduce the system nationwide after a trial on the M42 in the West Midlands.
However, the analysis by Sarah Simpson, a transport planner at Royal Haskoning DHV, a consultancy, said there was no evidence of any formal consultation over the policy until 2019.
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