Public exhibitions for M1 smart motorway upgrade in East Midlands
Find out more about plans to upgrade the M1 between junction 23a (Castle Donington) and junction 25 (Derby/Nottingham) to a smart motorway at two public exhibitions being held later this week.
Highways England is proposing to improve the M1 between junction 23a and junction 25 by upgrading it to a smart motorway.
The project will upgrade a 7.4 mile stretch of the M1 to a smart motorway. Between junctions 24 and 25, an extra lane will be created in each direction by converting the hard shoulder to a permanent running lane, known as All Lane Running.
New signs, signals and technology will allow Highways England to set the speed limit to match the conditions as well as giving drivers better information about conditions ahead. Between junctions 23a and 24, the M1 will remain a three lane motorway with a hard shoulder, but will still benefit from the upgraded technology. This is known as a Controlled Motorway.
Highways England Senior Project Manager, Peter Smith said:
The M1 is a major strategic route connecting people, communities and businesses. The smart motorway on this section of the M1 will improve journeys for our customers and ease congestion on one of our busiest motorways. It will also form part of a network of smart motorways connecting the North, Midlands and South and unlocking the benefits of smart motorways across England.
Smart motorways are central to the modernisation of England’s motorways. They reduce congestion, improve journey time reliability by making the hard shoulder available as a traffic lane and use variable speed limits to smooth traffic flow. They also add much needed capacity to some of the most congested parts of our network and support economic growth.
England’s motorways are among the safest in the world, and cutting the number of accidents is Highways England’s top priority. All Lane Running roads are designed to be as safe as ordinary motorways and in the two All Lane Running sections on the M25, accidents were down 17 per cent and casualty rates fell by 21 per cent in the first year.
Work on the upgrade is expected to start in early 2017 and is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
The events will take place as follows:
- Friday October 21 3pm – 8pm Best Western Premier Yew Lodge Hotel and Conference, Packington Hill, Kegworth, Derby, DE74 2DF
- Saturday October 22 10am – 3pm Holiday Inn Derby/Nottingham, Bostocks Lane, Sandiacre, Nottingham, NG10 5NJ
General enquiries
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Media enquiries
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.