Motorway red "X" question

[Nigel Worc's]

Genuine question from one of my workmates today (as it happened to him this morning), and I know the common sense answer but not the true legal answer.

He was driving along a stretch of one of these poxy so called 'Smart' motorways (M5 southbound approaching junction 5 for those with local knowledge).

There was a red X displayed above lane 1 as there was a stranded vehicle and of course no hard shoulder, he had passed the stranded vehicle but not a clear sign showing him the red X is no longer valid, so the lane is still closed.

He wants to exit at Jnc 5 which of course means he has to enter the closed lane (albeit briefly) to do so, what's the legal position on that ?

(Bear in mind that Highways England have a lot of form for not showing when a restriction has ended).

[Tasmin200]

You don't know what the red X was for. There may have been a major issue on the slip road.

[Superleg48]

In this situation, I would say it is perfectly acceptable to move into the closed lane at the 300 yard marker before the junction, whilst indicating to show your intention to take the exit. However proceed with caution just in case there is an issue on the slip road. If there was an issue on the slip road, likely the matrix information signs would advise this prior and if police are on scene the slip road may be closed by them and it would be obvious.

Edited to add: the red x lane markers on motorways relate only to the particular lane and not slip roads.

[Nigel Worc's]

Tasmin200 said:

You don't know what the red X was for. There may have been a major issue on the slip road.

Perhaps the stranded vehicle message gave him a clue !

[martinbiz]

What clear sign would you expect to see telling you the lane was open? if the next gantry did not have a red x on it, then there’s your answer

[Nigel Worc's]

martinbiz said:

What clear sign would you expect to see telling you the lane was open? if the next gantry did not have a red x on it, then there’s your answer

There wasn't (and still isn't lol) a next gantry between one showing the red X above lane one and the exit he wished to take.

I have seen signs showing all lanes open, i have just seen blankness following a lane closure, there is no consistency in what Highways England do with these signs.

I have yet to see a lane closure operational for an issue on the exit sliproad that just says stranded vehicle, I have seen accident on sliproad & obstruction on sliproad to answer an earlier (but not your) point.

[covboy]

Does this junction have clear running of Lane1/Hard shoulder through the junction (ie over the slip road) ?

[cjs racing.]

I had this southbound at J28 of the M1.

I waited until right at the sliproad, so was only in lane 1 for a few car lengths.

Nothing happened, but did worry for a few weeks.

[xjay1337]

Superleg48 said:

In this situation, I would say it is perfectly acceptable to move into the closed lane at the 300 yard marker before the junction, whilst indicating to show your intention to take the exit. However proceed with caution just in case there is an issue on the slip road. If there was an issue on the slip road, likely the matrix information signs would advise this prior and if police are on scene the slip road may be closed by them and it would be obvious.

Edited to add: the red x lane markers on motorways relate only to the particular lane and not slip roads.

^ This is what I would do.

[anonymous-user]

covboy said:

Does this junction have clear running of Lane1/Hard shoulder through the junction (ie over the slip road) ?

It has 'thru junction' running yes.

[thecremeegg]

The cameras are only on the gantries I presume so I'd just come off as late as is safe to do so, you aren't going to get caught.

[Nigel Worc's]

Just to update you all, I have had the following response from Highways England :

Hi Nigel, the red X signal closes a lane from that point until a further sign indicates otherwise. Where a red X has been used to close the left-hand side lane before an exit sliproad and no other sign before the slip-road, it would be illegal to enter the closed lane and then exit the motorway. Enforcement will only take place where there are cameras and/or the offence is observed. If the scenario above happens, we would recommend drivers continue to the next junction and exit the motorway there OR use the next junction to come back to where they were and exit from the other side to pick up their original route. This may add time to your journey, but depending on traffic volumes and distance to the next junction, this could just be a few minutes. We are reviewing how and when we use the red X around slip-roads to see how we can avoid disrupting journeys wherever possible. Hope this helps



So there you go, if they close lane one, they also close any sliproads at the same time !

[Seight_Returns]

They really couldn't give any other response though, could they ?

The worst Smart Motorway nonsensical situation I've encountered was L1 closed by red "X" and L2 and L3 with a Mandatory 50 VSL imposed - but with traffic joining from a left hand slip lane apparently unaware of the lane closure and speed restriction - and obviously frustrated by me and others apparently dawdling in the middle lane for no reason. I moved into L1 and sped up a bit regardless as did everyone else - but still .....

(Nice to see you Nigel - been a while - Best Wishes)