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Most smart motorways 'not value for money' say reports
Only 3 of 16 smart motorway schemes in England meet expected financial benefits; lower traffic growth and high costs reduce value for money, says National Highways.
- On Thursday, National Highways' evaluations show only three of sixteen smart motorway projects in England meet financial expectations, while eight provide weak value and two on the M25 and M6 are rated very poor.
- Built as a cheaper alternative to widening, the schemes converted hard shoulders to live lanes to boost capacity, but lower-than-expected traffic growth reduced value despite �314 million construction costs.
- The AA highlighted a worsening safety record on the M1 between junctions 39 and 42 and the M3 between junctions two and 4a, while National Highways reported lower collision rates overall.
- The AA criticised the delayed disclosure, saying it 'feels like an attempt to bury bad news' and called the programme 'a catastrophic waste of time, money and effort,' while reports were not made public until Thursday.
- Evaluations over a 60-year horizon show National Highways cautioned value-for-money assessments rely on decade-old projections and cover a short window; six schemes rated `poor` or `low` also provided extra capacity and reduced carbon emissions.
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Most smart motorways 'not value for money' say reports
In a statement, the Department for Transport said that although it would not be rolling out any new smart motorways, they remained among our safest roads in terms of deaths and serious injuries, and were just as safe, or safer, than the roads they replaced.
Coverage Details
Total News Sources8
Leaning Left0Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution80% Center
Bias Distribution
- 80% of the sources are Center
80% Center
C 80%
R 20%
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