Following leaked document (yeah right) Gordon Brown will this week lead the Labour fight back with radical plans to ease traffic congestion by allowing motorists to drive on the hard shoulders of motorways.
The left-hand lane currently used exclusively for emergency breakdowns will be opened up to all vehicles, increasing, at a stroke, the capacity of the motorway network by a third.
This follows what appears to have been a successful pilot scheme on the M42 in the Midlands, which in fact, I have experienced on my way to Manchester on a busy Monday morning, and I thought ‘what a great idea’. It certainly eased up traffic congestion as we all poodled along, albeit a bit slower, but at least we were moving.
Now Ministers are planning to roll out 'hard-shoulder running' to almost 2,000 miles of motorway to cut congestion but road-safety campaigners are worried that opening up the hard shoulder could lead to pile-ups when breakdowns block the carriageway and make it harder for the emergency services to reach crash sites.
Well, yes I can see the point but officials plan to allay this fear with 'safe-haven' areas and gantries with electronic displays warning of accidents.
As long as these display are quick to react, I think this is a brilliant solution to ease congestion during busy periods - or - is it the government’s cunning plan to implement this instead of forking out millions it would cost to add a fourth lane to all motorways?
Um, that’s food for thought.
FemaleFirst - Jackie Violet