M27 and M3 to get new emergency areas to improve safety on "unpopular" smart motorways

National Highways has confirmed there will be two new emergency areas - or hard shoulders - on the M27 between junctions 4 and 11 that will be put in place during the summer. A further 10 will be added on the M3 between junctions 2 and 4A in Surrey and Hampshire from the end of April to the start of May.

Overall, 52 emergency areas are to be built on the M25 and neighbouring motorways. Twenty-four new emergency areas are planned for two sections of the M25 – between junctions 23 and 27 in Hertfordshire and Essex and between junctions 5 and 7 in Surrey and Kent - with construction due to begin in Hertfordshire and Essex from Thursday 25 April. The M20 in Kent and M4 in Berkshire will also see upgrades to install more emergency areas from late April and early May.

The upgrades are part of work to add more emergency areas to all lane running motorways across the country. National Highways said it was “committed to building more than 150 new emergency areas to give drivers more places to stop in an emergency”.

Emergency areas provide a place to stop for drivers in an emergency if they are unable to leave the motorway or stop at a service area. They are clearly signed at regular intervals and have bright orange road surfaces to help identify them.

Each area is 100 metres long meaning there is ample space for all types of vehicle. They are also equipped with emergency telephones linking directly to control rooms to “get help on the way quickly”.   

National Highways project sponsor Felicity Clayton said: “Safety is our highest priority and we have listened to drivers' concerns about having more places to stop in an emergency on motorways which don’t have a permanent hard shoulder. 

“This is part of the Government’s £900 million investment in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways, which includes adding an additional 150 emergency areas across the network and giving motorists clear advice when using smart motorways to boost public confidence.”

 All existing emergency areas on the M25, M20, M3, M27 and M4 will remain open wherever possible throughout construction wherever possible and a free recovery service will be available through the roadworks.  

It comes as the RAC urged ministers to reinstate the hard shoulder on smart motorways. The RAC issued the plea exactly a year after prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled all future planned smart motorway projects, citing financial pressures and a lack of public confidence in the roads.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “There is a real irony when it comes to talking about cost pressures in relation to these distinctly unpopular types of motorway.

“While heralded as a cost-effective way of increasing capacity on some of our busier roads, a colossal amount of public money has since gone into trying to make them safer – for instance by installing radar-based technology to detect stricken vehicles more quickly, plus the creation of additional emergency refuge areas.

“This cash needn’t have been spent. The Government ploughed on with building all-lane running motorways, regardless of concerns expressed by drivers, the RAC and even the Transport Committee.

“We continue to believe that the Government should either convert existing all-lane running smart motorways to dynamic ones – where the hard shoulder is only opened to traffic during busy periods – or repaint the white line and reintroduce a permanent hard shoulder on these roads.”