PLANS to increase lanes on the M62 have been welcomed by Bradford business leaders, who say tackling motorway congestion will improve productivity.

The move was announced last week as part of the Government's £15 billion package of 80 road schemes in England, looking to add 1,300 new miles of extra lanes to motorways and A roads.

Described by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin as the "biggest, boldest and most far-reaching roads programme for decades" the project will transform some of the country's most important strategic routes.

The AA welcomed the roads strategy, hoping it would bring an end to "the stop-start mess of the last few decades", while the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said it marked "a significant milestone towards the delivery of much-needed upgrades to our existing road network, the arteries of our economy".

But the Campaign for Better Transport called the plan "a counter-productive waste of money", claiming there is no evidence that building new roads creates jobs or benefits the economy.

Driving forward the Northern Powerhouse project, the road package means the Manchester to Leeds stretch of the M62 will become a 'smart motorway', using technology to manage congestion.

Smart motorways allow the Highways Agency to adjust the speed limit and to close and open lanes, including the hard shoulder, to traffic.

Plans for the M62, and the slip road connecting it to the M606 at Chain Bar are backed by Bradford businesses. Mike Cartwright, policy and representation executive of West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said the improvements were "long overdue but welcome nevertheless". He said as car travel is the preferred mode of transport for most businesses, congestion is one of the most common concerns.

"A slip road direct from the M62 to the M606 should help to ease the backlog that's practically a daily feature on the westbound at Chain Bar, and improving the M621 is also a must for getting in and out of Leeds," he added.

Mo Shariq, managing director of BWR Haulage Limited in Bradford, said the roads package would boost business. "The M62 is a disaster for us at the moment. It takes a couple of hours to get from Bradford to Manchester," he said, adding that the smart motorway would "definitely improve our productivity".

So what exactly is a smart motorway and how does it work?

The first smart motorway came into operation on a section of the M42 in 2006. They have since been delivered on stretches of the M1, the M4/M5 and the M62 and are under construction on the M25 and M6 in the Midlands. They are controlled sections of motorway where the hard shoulder is open to traffic at peak times and during congestion and where it is fully converted to a permanent running lane.

The Highways Agency says it is essential that motorists recognise the "important features" of smart motorways and understand how they work.

These features include:

* Red X signs. These indicate that the Highways Agency is allowed to close a lane to traffic. A sign displaying a red X symbol set overhead the lane to be closed means motorists must not use that lane, as there may be an incident or broken-down vehicle ahead. Driving under a red X sign is illegal.

* Hard Shoulder. Smart motorways can make use of the hard shoulder as an extra lane to help create more capacity on the motorway. On some sections of motorways there is no hard shoulder, meaning all lanes are available for traffic to use. Overhead signs will tell motorists when the hard shoulder is available for use. The hard shoulder must not be used if the signs over it are blank or display a red X, except to stop in an emergency.

*Speed Limits. Smart motorways allow the Highways Agency to adjust the speed limit on a motorway during busy periods, controlling the flow of vehicles and helping to prevent traffic grinding to a halt.

A computer system calculates the most appropriate speed limit based on the volume of traffic and traffic loops are built into the road surface to detect slow-moving or stationary traffic, alerting Highways Agency Control Centres to changing conditions.

* Driver Information Signs. These are used to: warn drivers about queuing traffic ahead and any speed limits in force so they can take preventative action by slowing down; display information to help control speeds and manage traffic at busy times; provide information to individual traffic lanes, for example allowing highways operators to divert traffic and close lanes in the event of an incident

*CCTV. This helps Highways Agency Control Centres and the emergency services to know what is happening on the motorway. In the event of an incident or congestion, traffic lanes can be closed, speed restrictions set and appropriate organisations deployed.

* For more about smart motorways, and the Government's road package, visit gov.uk.

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