New Smart motorways scrapped amid safety and cost concerns - just after multi million pound Milton Keynes stretch is completed

Just months after MK’s multi-million pound stretch of Smart motorway was finished, the Prime Minister has announced all future scheme will be scrapped due to safety and cost concerns.

Rishi Sunak had ruled that 14 planned new All Lane Running stretches will no longer go ahead.

And all existing Smart motorways, including the new 14-mile M1 stretch from J14 at Newport Pagnell to J15 in Northampton, will be subject to a safety refit, he says.

The high-tech motorways use the hard shoulder as a running lane and have variable speed limits imposed to control traffic flow.

Now the safety improvement work will include building frequent emergency stopping places to make up for the lack of hard shoulder, says the Government.

The local Smart scheme is one of the longest stretches of junction-free of motorways in the country. It cost around £300m and took four years to build.

It is one of a string of such schemes that sparked controversy after data showed there was a higher rate of stopped-car collisions compared to ordinary motorways.

The construction of 11 schemes has now been paused and plans for three more projects yet to be started have been scrapped completely.

Two stretches – between junctions six to eight of the M56, and 21a to 26 of the M6 – will continue because they are already more than 75% complete.

Earlier this year a leading Milton Keynes conservative councillor demanded the government urgently investigate the safety of MK’s new Smart motorway.

Cllr David Hopkins is also the Vice Chairman of the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority and he was worried about the log jam faced by emergency service vehicles, in particular fire engines, when attending road traffic accidents.

For years widows and family members of ALR accident victims all over the country have campaigned against the plans. Their fears centre around the risk of a broken down vehicle being hit by another vehicle in a live traffic lane and they accused the government of failing to listen and take action despite repeated 'terrible catastrophes

The campaigners have now welcomed the move, but are demanding the government now return the hard shoulder on all existing conversions.

In January 2022, the government paused the expansion of all motorways where the hard shoulder is used as a permanent live traffic lane. This was to enable five years of data to be collected to assess whether they are safe for drivers.

Meanwhile, the final stretch of the local scheme, from Newport Pagnell services, opened just five months ago.

There are Red X signs to alert drivers to lane closures or road works. It is illegal to ignore these signs and a £100 fine can be imposed.

Announcing the cancellation of all projects, the prime minister said: "All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country. 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.”