'Smart' Motorways

[agricola]

The so called Smart Motorways are essentially a cheap way of increasing the road capacity by consuming the hard shoulder and using it as a running lane. The Govt/Highways Agency were forced by the environmental legislation to act to reduce congestion and improve air quality. Adding additional lanes while maintaining the hard shoulder was deemed too expensive, so the hard shoulders were assimilated. As always, the cheapest option rarely turns out to be the best