Further set of roadworks to be removed on M1
Drivers will be able to travel up to 70mph again on a stretch of the M1 in Derbyshire when another set of roadworks is removed this week.
Highways England will be lifting the 50mph speed limit and removing the narrow lanes on a 3.5 mile section between junction 29 at Chesterfield and junction 29a at Duckmanton while work goes on behind the scenes to prepare for the opening of the smart motorway scheme between Mansfield and Worksop (junctions 28 and 31).
The roadworks are due to be removed overnight tonight, Monday 21 December.
This is the third set of roadworks to be removed from this section of the M1. Back in September, roadworks were lifted between junctions 30 and 31 and in October between junctions 30 and 29a.
Highways England’s senior project manager, Andy Kirk, said:
We’re now in a position where we can remove another set of roadworks on the M1, while we continue to work behind the scenes to complete various technical tasks on the smart motorway scheme.
This means the road will operate as a three lane motorway with a hard shoulder and national speed limit between junctions 29 and 31, improving journeys for drivers. A 50mph speed limit will remain in place between junctions 28 and 29 for the safety of drivers and our road workers as temporary narrow lanes are still being used while work continues along this section.
When the scheme goes live next year, the hard shoulder will be converted to an extra lane to increase capacity and variable speed limits will help to keep traffic moving, bringing an end to the stop-start conditions most of us have experienced in the past.
When the smart motorway is completed in spring next year, overhead electronic message signs will give drivers information about any congestion, lane closures and incidents ahead as well as changes in the speed limit.
Another smart motorway project, from junction 32 (for the M18 near Rotherham), through the Sheffield and Rotherham area to junction 35a (for the Stocksbridge bypass), is also currently taking place on the M1 and is due to be finished by winter 2016/17.
The smart motorway schemes are part of a £15 billion government investment in motorways and major A roads by 2021.
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