M1 - new technology
| Published: 7th April 2008 10:18 |
Highways Agency (East Midlands)
(Highways Agency) New technology to reduce congestion on the M1 in the East Midlands to go live
An innovative scheme to reduce congestion and improve traffic flows at some of the busiest junctions on the M1 motorway in the East Midlands will be switched on in stages this month - with the first set going live next week.
Work to install the part-time lights on the motorway entry slip roads, which will regulate the flow of traffic joining the motorway, called ramp metering, is now complete in the East Midlands. A period of testing the hardware and technology involved will now take place.
The lights on the southbound entry slip road at M1 junction 25 will be switched on for the first time on Tuesday, 8 April. The lights on the entry slip road at junction 28 northbound, junction 29 north and southbound and junction 24 northbound will be switched on throughout April.
Although the lights will operate during times of congestion, there will be an initial period of approximately eight to ten weeks where data about the lights will be collated and analysed so that the settings can be fine-tuned.
Congestion can occur near junctions when vehicles attempt to join from the slip road when there is already heavy traffic on the motorway. The ramp metering lights release just a few vehicles at a time, these lights prevent the merging and motorway traffic from bunching together and forming a bottleneck that delays everyone.
Sensors in the road monitor the congestion and adjust the timing of the lights. Traffic on the slip road is also monitored to minimise the possibility of queues forming on the local road network.
Highways Agency project manager Jack Warner, said:
"The system is designed so the lights work part-time, during times of heavy traffic on the motorway network. Motorists joining the motorway may have a few seconds delay at slip road lights, but this short delay will benefit all motorway users by ensuring they can make their journeys safely and reliably.
"While the lights are being switched on and tested we'd like to ask motorists to be patient as the settings might not be 100 per cent right for the first eight to ten weeks after they go live. During this time we will analyse the data and correct any problems."
Ramp metering is part of an £18m project, which sees 70 sites being introduced in England by 2009. The East Midlands scheme is costing £1m.
The system has been successfully used on motorways in parts of the Midlands and the North where it has been shown to reduce congestion and improve journey times on the motorway by up to nine per cent. It is also widely used in the United States, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
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