DRIVERS will be able to continuously drive along the hard shoulder of the M42 between junctions 4 and 6 from December 9 in a UK first.The ‘through-junction running’ scheme means hard shoulder users will not have to leave at junction 5.
The £3m plan has been funded by the Government’s fiscal stimulus package, and will “kick-start the economy and help build Britain’s future” bosses said.
It comes as a seven-mile section of the M6 off north east Birmingham opens the hard shoulder for traffic use, mirroring an existing pilot on the M42.
Today The Highway’s Agency, responsible for motorways, said the M42 scheme had resulted in “more reliable journey times for drivers (a 22% improvement) and safer journeys”.
Accidents had fallen from an average 5.1 a month to 1.8, it said in a statement.
The scheme uses overhead signs to vary speed limits and open the hard shoulder at peak times. Extra recesses were built into the road with emergency telephones.
The Government has pledged to open up 340 miles of hard shoulder.
