New smart motorways to be banned after safety concerns – find out which ones have been scrapped
The building of new smart motorways is being cancelled following concerns over safety and costs.
Fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from government road-building plans, Downing Street has confirmed.
Existing stretches will remain but be subjected to a safety refit so there are more emergency stopping places.
Read more: What are smart motorways?
About 10% of England’s motorway network is made up of smart motorways. They involve various methods to manage the flow of traffic, including converting the hard shoulder into a live lane.
They were introduced in England in 2014 to ease congestion – and there are 375 miles of smart motorway, including 235 miles with no hard shoulder.
But there have been longstanding fears following fatal accidents involving vehicles forced to stop in live lanes, without a hard shoulder, only to be hit from behind.
Earlier this month, an inquest heard a crash on a smart motorway that killed two pensioners would not have happened if there had been a hard shoulder.
Derek Jacobs, 83, died when his van was hit by a car on the M1 near Sheffield in 2019.
He had stopped in the live inside lane after a blown tyre, and had remained stationary there for three minutes and 34 seconds before his vehicle was hit by a red Ford KA, driven by Jean Scripps. Her husband died in hospital two months after the collision.
Derek Jacobs died in a crash on a smart motorway in 2019
The road to scrapping smart motorways
Plans for up to hundreds of miles of smart motorways were first announced in 2019, with the government aiming to roll out 400 miles across England by 2025.
But two years later, the proposals had been shelved.
At the time, ministers said the policy was “paused” until five years of safety data for schemes introduced before 2020 had been collected. But in his Tory leadership campaign last summer, Rishi Sunak vowed to ban them entirely.
Campaigners have long called for them to be scrapped.
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January 2022: Smart motorway rollout suspended
Jason Mercer died in 2019 while driving to work. He had a shunt with a van on a stretch of the M1 near Sheffield that had been converted to a smart motorway.
After both vehicles stopped, they were hit by a lorry. Claire Mercer says her husband would still be alive had there been a hard shoulder.
Ms Mercer founded Smart Motorways Kill and has been campaigning for the abolishment of the motorways entirely.
Jason Mercer died after a crash on the M1 northbound in 2019. Pic: South Yorkshire Police
Claire Mercer has campaigned for smart motorways to be banned
Rishi Sunak’s campaign promise
“All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country,” The Telegraph quoted Mr Sunak as saying.
“That’s why last year I pledged to stop the building of all new smart motorways, and today I’m making good on that promise.
“Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, to take their children to school and go about their daily lives, and I want them to be able to do so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe.”
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RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: “This is a watershed announcement and a victory for everyone who has campaigned against these motorways that, by their design, put drivers in more danger should they be unlucky enough to break down on one.
“Our research shows all lane-running smart motorways are deeply unpopular with drivers so we’re pleased the government has finally arrived at the same conclusion. It’s now vitally important that plans are made for making the hundreds of existing miles of these types of motorway as safe as possible.
“The possibility of converting all lane running stretches to the ‘dynamic hard shoulder’ configuration, where the hard shoulder is open and closed depending on the levels of traffic, could be one option the government considers.”
A body has been found in the search for 23-year-old runner Jenny Hall.
She was last seen leaving her home in Barracks Farm, County Durham, in her car just after 3pm on Tuesday.
Police said there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances after a body was found in a very remote area in Teesdale on Sunday morning, five days after she went missing.
Jenny Hall went missing on Tuesday. Pic: Durham Constabulary
“We’re sorry to report that officers searching for missing woman Jenny Hall, have sadly found a body,” Durham Constabulary said in a statement.
“Officers carried out an extensive search alongside specialist partners and have been working around-the-clock to locate Jenny after she went missing on February 18.
“The body was found in a very remote area in Teesdale just after 9.30am today.
“Formal identification has yet to take place. Jenny’s family have been notified and are currently being supported by specialist officers. They have asked for privacy at this devasting time.
“It is not believed there are any suspicious circumstances and a file will be prepared for the coroner.”
A major police search was launched after Ms Hall’s disappearance.
Her car, a red Ford Focus, was found on Wednesday parked on the B6278, near remote moorland between Eggleston and Stanhope.
Mountain rescue teams, specialist drones and sniffer dogs had been combing the Hamsterley Forest and the surrounding areas, where there are a number of running trails, this week.
Digital intelligence officers also carried out extensive inquiries into Ms Hall’s mobile phone, smart watch and running apps.
A fresh amber weather warning for heavy rain has been issued by the Met Office – with much of the UK already on alert for high winds and showers.
Northern Ireland, Scotland and the UK’s west coast and the Midlands have yellow warnings for wind on Sunday – meaning the possibility of transport delays and short-term power cuts.
There are also rain warnings in place for several parts of western UK.
The new amber warning has been issued for rain in south and central Wales and is in force from 3pm on Sunday to 6am on Monday.
An amber warning means danger to life from floodwater, homes and businesses are likely to be flooded, and there is a chance some communities will be cut off.
Winds across the west of the UK will increase throughout the morning with gusts up to 70mph in exposed areas, the Met Office said.
Zoe Hutin, a meteorologist at the forecaster, said Sunday is expected to be the “worst day” before conditions improve.
“The wind warning itself for the mainland UK ends at 6pm, but we can expect to continue to see quite blustery conditions even into the evening as the mainland rain itself pushes through.”
She added: “By the time people get up on Monday, we’ll still have some of the residual rain from that front in the far south-east of the country, and quite cloudy across England as well.
“But actually elsewhere, it could be a decent start.”
The Met Office’s yellow weather warnings for much of England and Scotland came into force at 6am and are expected to run until 6pm on Sunday.
A separate yellow warning for Northern Ireland came into force at 3am and runs until 3pm.
Rain and high winds are expected across the west of the UK
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People who have noticed some slightly higher temperatures the last couple of days may be dismayed at the latest predictions.
“Through the week, those temperatures are trending back down,” Ms Hutin said.
“And so it will be getting cooler each day, but they will actually just be recovering to around average for the time of year. So it won’t be cold.
“It will just be returning back to where we would expect to be for this time of February.”
Sir Keir Starmer has said the United States “is right” about the UK and Europe needing to take more responsibility for defence and security.
The prime minister, speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow on Sunday, said he is clear Britain “will take a leading responsibility” in protecting the continent.
“Instability in Europe always washes up on our shores,” he said.
“And this is a generational moment. I’ve been saying for some time that we Europeans – including the United Kingdom – have to do more for our defence and security. The US is right about that.”
He added “we can’t cling to the comforts of the past” as it is “time to take responsibility for our security”.
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Donald Trump sparked an emergency meeting of European leaders this week after he said European NATO members should spend more on defence, while the US should spend less.
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Sir Keir has said he will set out a path for the UK to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence, up from the current 2.3%, but has not indicated when that will be.
It is believed he may announce the details when he visits Mr Trump in Washington DC on Thursday, bringing forward the announcement that was expected in the spring when a defence spending review is published.
The prime minister reiterated the UK will “play our role” if required in Ukraine following a peace agreement after he earlier this week said the UK would send troops to be part of a peacekeeping force.
Sir Keir will meet Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday. Pic: AP
However, his comments caused a row with Germany and Italy who said it was premature to commit to boots on the ground, although France agreed with the UK.
Sir Keir said: “As we enter a new phase in this conflict, we must now deepen our solidarity even further.”
He added: “There can be no discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine.
“And the people of Ukraine must have long-term security.”
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This week has seen US officials meet their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia to discuss Ukraine – which has been met with indignation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as none of his team were invited.
No Europeans were invited either, sparking concern the US is pandering to Vladimir Putin.
Sir Keir has promised Mr Zelenskyy he will make the case for safeguarding Ukraine’s sovereignty when he meets with Mr Trump, who has called the Ukrainian president a dictator.
Mr Trump also said Sir Keir and French President Emmanuel Macron, who will visit the White House too this week, “haven’t done anything” to end the war.
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