Smart motorways - all lane running guidance

Ambulance on motorway

This month the Highways Agency launched its ‘smart motorways’, which make use of new technology to vary speed limits and help traffic in response to what’s happening on the road. 

These changes mean that some motorways in our patch are now using ‘all lane running’. This means the hard shoulder is permanently converted into a traffic lane on these sections of the motorway. Instead of the hard shoulder there are regularly spaced emergency refuge areas for the public, each one with an emergency telephone. 

Junctions 5 to 7, and 23 to 27, of the M25 are becoming ‘all lane running’, i.e. these sections of the motorway will have no hard shoulder. 

This will be controlled by the overhead matrix boards and constantly monitored by Highways Agency CCTV. Notifying EEAST’s attendance to an incident on these sections of road is clearly a high priority, as there will be no hard shoulder available. The emergency operations centre (EOC) will take responsibility for contacting the Highways Agency. 

The new guidance gives details on what will happen if an RTC occurs on these sections of motorway, the terminology the emergency services need to use and refer to, and details of how access will work at the scene.

Click here to view the new guidance 

If you have any queries, please contact the driver training unit, speak to your line manager or visit the Highways Agency website

Published 26th April, 2014

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