Project to cut congestion on M62 motorway at Heywood

congestion on M62 motorway at Heywood

Efforts to cut congestion and increase flows on some of England's busiest motorways were boosted today with the start of national implementation of a £6m plan by the Highways Agency to introduce access management at slip roads across 30 locations, including the M62 motorway at Heywood, Alistair Darling announced today.

The technique reduces congestion and improves traffic flows by managing the flow of vehicles joining at motorway junctions. Traffic lights are located on the motorway slip road and operate during congested periods to regulate the amount of traffic joining the motorway.

Sensors are located along the slip road which enables the system to be turned off when necessary to prevent the build up of traffic on the adjacent road network.

The technique, also known as 'ramp metering', has been used overseas for a number of years and is already operating successfully on the M6 north of Birmingham.

With the system operating, during periods of congestion on the motorway, traffic speeds in advance of the junction increased by up to 18 per cent with reductions in overall journey times on the motorway of up to 11 per cent.

Work will start on the installation of the first ten sites this month and the system will begin operating this spring after the equipment has been installed in March. The local site is:

* M62 J19 Eastbound, Heywood

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said:

"We have to get more out of the existing motorway network. This is an excellent example of using innovative ways of solving long-standing problems for drivers.

"This approach has been used successfully overseas and we believe that it will make a significant contribution to getting the most out of our motorway system by reducing congestion on it.

"Traffic joins the motorway safely without causing braking by vehicles on the motorway itself.  By carefully monitoring vehicle flows, the Agency will be better able to manage the traffic joining the motorway."

The technique will help to improve flows and reduce delays created by heavy traffic and congestion at key points on the motorway network.

It is estimated that 65 per cent of delays occurring on the motorway network is due to the volume of traffic; 25 per cent is due to road traffic accidents and 10 per cent is due to roadworks.

Ramp metering is used in Holland, France and the USA. Trials of the technique on the M6 in Birmingham and M27 and M3 around Southampton have allowed the Agency to develop criteria for selecting sites that would benefit from the introduction of the technique.