Highways Agency officials today welcomed a Chinese delegation to the Regional Control Centre in Quinton to see first hand how congestion on the M6 in the West Midlands has been alleviated by the award-winning Managed Motorways scheme.
 

The delegation of transport officials from Yunnan province wanted to see how the scheme, which uses variable speed limits and opening of the hard shoulder as an additional traffic lane during busy periods, has improved the running of the motorway network in the West Midlands with a view to taking the lessons learned back to China to put into practice. They are the latest group of officials from overseas to request more information about the pioneering scheme.

They were given a tour of the Regional Control Centre and a presentation by the officials who have been involved with the scheme, before a private visit to the most recently completed section of Managed Motorways between junctions 8 and 10A of the M6. This 6.7mile scheme opened in March and was delivered as part of a £150m contract.

Paul Unwin, project manager for the Highways Agency, said:

“It is fantastic to see so much international interest in our motorways. Of all the projects in the world, the Chinese officials have chosen to come to see us to learn about the methods we have used to tackle congestion on roads in the West Midlands. I hope they found their visit informative.

“We know this innovative system works - research published in March, on the same day we opened the M6 J8 to J10A section, shows that accidents more than halved since the first-ever UK scheme was introduced on 10.5 miles of M42 (J3a to J7), to the east of Birmingham. It also showed that journey times have improved between the M40 J16, near Lapworth, and M6 J5, near Birmingham, since the introduction of two sections of hard shoulder running. Evidence also shows that road users say hard shoulder running has improved these sections of the 'Birmingham Box' motorways.

Mr Kang Zhongming, deputy director of the Traffic & Transportation Office of Yunnan Province, said: “Congestion is an increasing problem in Yunnan province and so it is very useful to be able to see how the Highways Agency in the West Midlands has put into practice the latest technological advances. We hope that similar techniques will be able to help us and we thank the Highways Agency for giving us the opportunity to learn more about the Managed Motorways scheme.”

Work is due to start on the next phase of Managed Motorways in 2012-13 on the M6 between junctions 5 and 8, subject to completion of statutory processes. The scheme will deliver 11 miles of hard shoulder running (5.5 miles in each direction). Once completed, M6 road users will benefit from improved journeys from junctions 4 through to 10A.