Plans to turn the M40/M42 interchange into smart motorway have been shelved over safety fears and rising costs.

The government paused the £312 million works in Warwickshire alongside three other schemes at the start of 2022 saying more safety checks were needed.

Campaigners said smart motorways, which use the hard shoulder as live traffic lanes and technology to regulate congestion, are too dangerous. In November 2021 MPs on the commons transport select committee said work should be stopped whilst more safety data was collected.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to ban smart motorways during his leadership campaign last year.

He said: "All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country."

As well as the M40/M42 interchange, smart motorway projects on the M3 between junctions 9 and 14, on the M62 between junctions 20 and 25, and on the M25 between junctions 10 and 16 will be scrapped.

At the M40/M42 interchange the hard shoulder was being converted to a fourth lane between M42 junction 3 and junction 3a, and M42 junction 3a to M40 junction 16.

New emergency areas, electronic signs, CCTV cameras and new safety barriers were also being built with work set to finish in summer 2024.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says the risk of a collision between a stationary and moving vehicle on smart motorways is higher than on conventional motorways, with many road users calling for the return of the hard shoulder.

Speaking on yesterday's (April 17) announcement, Rebecca Guy, road safety manager at RoSPA, said: "It is quite clear that drivers want the return of the hard shoulder, and ultimately we need motorists to feel safe on our roads.

"That's why we welcome the plans to shelve the planned construction of smart motorways and hope that money will go into making motorways safer in other ways.

(Header image by David Dixon via geograph.org.uk)