Why is Highways England carrying out maintenance work on sections of the M1 that only recently (2017) were converted to Smart Motorways—All Lane Running?
In August, the northbound section of the M1, between junctions 32 and 34 was closed over a weekend for what Highways England described as “part of an £80 million Yorkshire-wide upgrade programme aimed at improving safety and supporting economic growth.” The works included “resurfacing, bridge and lighting improvements as well as barrier and drainage work on the stretch, which is used by around 110,000 drivers every day. [https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/traffic-and-travel/this-is-when-the-m1-will-be-closed-this-weekend-1-9918107]
Could there be any relation between the need for this work and the fact that Smart Motorways are known to have a problem with cracks appearing in the surface?
Only in July, Mike Harper, chief executive of the Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA), warned that the lane-switching involved in Smart Motorways “could put unexpected stress on surface joints.”
Speaking to the annual Institute of Highway Engineers conference, Mike Harper explained that turning the shoulder into a running lane “has the effect of moving the other three lanes across slightly”. This meant that the “joints that were under the white lines move into the running lanes and suffer more stress.” [https://www.highwaysmagazine.co.uk/RSTA-chief-Plan-ahead-to-prevent-cracks-on-smart-motorways/5004]
As evidence he cited that, on the first Smart Motorway opened in England, the M42, within two years traffic stress had led to “large cracks opened up in the carriageway some 20mm wide” that was so wide you could stick your fingers in it…”
Since then, “We see it happening time and time again.”
Harper was quoted as stating “When there was a lot of money for smart motorways, the plan was to plane off and do new surface courses and so put the seams back on the new locations of the white lines.
‘Now they are now going back to utilising existing road surfaces rather than routinely planning everything off. So we are going back to that scenario where we will need to protect those seams.
‘There is a section where I live in Cheshire where a team had taken off some of the temporary lining with a hydro blaster and they had taken the matrix of the asphalt out straight away on a brand new surface.
‘There is a seam that is already open and this motorway had literally been open for two days. It is a real risk….”
The dangers of cracks and potholes are well known to drivers. Not only can they cause serious damage to a car, more importantly they can pose a danger to life as the alteration in the road surface can mean a driver losing control of their vehicle.
That risk is significantly increased when the vehicle is travelling at speed. Yet this known danger is especially raised on smart motorways—now being rolled out across the country-where the hard shoulder has been removed.
For example, in June the M1 Between junctions 24 and 25 was closed due to “emergency pothole repairs” [https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1139360/M1-traffic-latest-m1-delays-pothole-repairs]
This section had been opened to great fanfare as an All Lanes Running motorway only in February.
And Highways England continue the lie that Smart Motorways are safe!