Sixth Report
Correspondence
M56 Motorway (Junctions 6 to 7) (Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 2022
1.Our 5th Report1 drew the attention of the House to these Regulations because the Explanatory Memorandum (EM) failed to make any reference to concerns over the safety of smart motorway schemes. Our specific concern was that these Regulations will bring the Junction 6 to 7 scheme into operation with emergency refuge areas (EAs) at a much greater distance apart than is currently considered optimal. We also asked whether the design of EAs takes into account the requirements and limitations of all-electric cars when they break down. We therefore wrote to the Minister for further explanation and the correspondence is published in Appendix 1.
2.The Minister’s reply lists six All Lane Running (ALR) schemes2 under construction which fall into the exemption to the moratorium that the Secretary of State agreed to while further safety information is gathered. It also provides some comparative safety data from the Second Year stocktake3 which is the sort of supporting evidence that we would expect to be included in every EM on this issue.
3.On the specific question about the emergency refuge areas, the Minister’s response only added to the confusion. The House of Commons Transport Committee recommended that EAs “should be 1,500 metres apart, decreasing to every 1,000 metres (0.75 miles) where physically possible” and the supplementary information we received from the Department for Transport for our 5th Report stated that in the ALR scheme to which these Regulations relate there are four designated EAs with an average spacing of 2.5km. The Minister’s reply is couched in miles and states that the M56 scheme will have four emergency areas on opening on average 1.07 miles apart—which is 1,721 metres—a very different figure to the one originally given. The House may which to press the Minister to explain which is the accurate figure and when EAs at the recommended intervals will be retrofitted.
1 SLSC, 5th Report (Session 2022–23, HL Paper 28).
2 ALR schemes involve the permanent conversion of the hard shoulder into a running lane, with emergency refuge areas provided at intervals for cars that find themselves in difficulty.
3 National Highways, ‘Smart motorways stocktake: Second year progress report 2022’: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/media/uivj2zem/smart-motorways-stocktake-second-year-2022.pdf [accessed 29 June 2022].