New high-tech signs for M3 & M4

£15m scheme uses pictures to warn and advise

By PH Staff / Thursday, 30 June 2005 / Loading comments

Will they warn middle lane morons?

Work on a £15 million project to install 43 new high-tech overhead motorway message signs on the M3 and M4 motorways begins with a communications upgrade in July, said the Highways Agency (HA), which is responsible for the upkeep of Britain's main roads. The move follows the damning of the HA by MPs for being ineffectual -- see related story link below.

The new signs can display both text and pictures in two colours and are due to come in to use by the end of 2006 to give drivers the latest information about road conditions ahead.

Work on the M3 is due to start on Monday July 11 and on the M4 in mid-July. The scheme also includes CCTV cameras, so traffic managers can view incidents on the motorway, and new emergency telephones.

Most of the installation work will take place off the main carriageway, on the motorway verge with hard shoulder closures in place to provide a safe working area. Occasional carriageway lane closures will be needed to install the detector loops, but these will take place overnight when traffic flows are lower.

Research has shown that drivers understand picture-based messages up to a second quicker than text-based messages. The minister for roads, Dr Stephen Ladyman, said: "Using pictures as well as words on the new signs will help drivers to understand and react to the information displayed more quickly."

The HA said the new signs were part of its investment in new technology, designed to provide better information to drivers, cut congestion and help drivers to avoid delays.

The new signs will be linked up to a new regional traffic control centre where the police and HA traffic managers will work together to reduce the impact of congestion and accidents on the South East network.

CCTV will allow them to assess the situation, manage incidents on the motorway, and set the new message signs more accurately. The HA said that the cameras could not distinguish number plates and could not be used to catch traffic law offenders.

The new signs will be linked to an incident detection system, which uses loops in the road to identify slow or queuing traffic and automatically activates the signals to warn approaching vehicles of an incident on the road ahead.