South East emergency area retrofit programme
We’re building additional emergency areas to our all lane running smart motorways in the South East.
The safety and confidence of people travelling on England’s motorways and major A-roads is our highest priority.
We’ve been listening to your concerns and have developed a programme to create additional emergency areas on sections of all lane running (ALR) smart motorway across the country.
What are we doing in the South East?
In the South East additional emergency areas are being created across the following motorways
The M20 between junctions 3 and 5 in Kent – four new emergency areas
The M25 between junctions 5 and 7 in Surrey & Kent – nine new emergency areas
The M25 between junctions 23 and 27 in Hertfordshire & Essex – fifteen new emergency areas
The M3 between junctions 2 and 4A in Surrey & Hampshire – ten new emergency areas
The M4 between junctions 10 and 12 in Berkshire – twelve new emergency areas
The M27 between junctions 4 and 11 in Hampshire – two new emergency areas
The exact number of emergency areas on each section of motorway may change. This is because we cannot rule out finding unexpected conditions at any individual location after constructions begins.
We’ll deliver this work in phases and aim to start in 2024. We’ll provide more information on each of our programmes in due course.
While we install each new emergency area, we'll close the inside lane on the four-lane motorways. Lanes two, three and four remain open at full width with a 50mph speed limit in place.
Latest updates
-
06 September 2024
Work is going well
We’ve dug out most of the new emergency areas. We’ve also completed foundations for retaining walls in several of the bays. These are all ready for the next stages of construction work, including drainage.
We're often working where you can't see us. For example, at the bottom of embankments or in the verge behind barriers. This sometimes makes it look like nobody is working on site.
Other work only needs small crews and machinery. You may not notice them. However, the work they're doing is just as important as more obvious activities.
Earthworks for one of the new emergency areas. Working below road level means you often can't see us. -
30 May 2024
Work has started
While we install each new emergency area you'll see the inside lane on the four-lane motorways is closed. Lanes two, three and four remain open with a 50mph speed limit in place.
Temporary CCTV cameras will monitor the carriageway and 24-hour free recovery will be in operation.
Some of the new emergency areas (EAs) are quite close together, so we're keeping the inside lane closed from one EA to the next as it reduces lane changes, helps keep traffic flowing and ultimately reduces the risk of any incidents.
Update
We've installed traffic management on four of our five south east projects:
- M25 junctions 5 to 7
- M25 junctions 23 to 27
- M3 M25 junctions 2 to 4a
- M4 M25 junctions 10 to 12
We're currently removing existing barriers and excavating topsoil. This is done by a smaller team of people - which accounts for why you see fewer of our workforce right now. In a few weeks you will see the whole workforce working on the road.
Project information
Emergency areas provide a place to stop in an emergency if drivers can't exit the motorway or stop at a motorway service area.
They are marked by blue signs featuring an orange SOS telephone symbol. Each is coloured orange and is around the same length as a football pitch. They’re positioned at regular intervals, providing somewhere safe to stop and have phones linked directly to our control rooms.
Read our advice about driving on motorways, including what to do in an emergency.
Why are roadworks so long and why do they need to be on both sides of the road?
Safety is our top priority. As the distance between emergency areas is relatively short, maintaining the lane closure between them is the best option as it reduces lane changes, helps keep traffic flowing and ultimately reduces the risk of any incidents.
Motorway technology often covers both sides of the road at once, and we have put roadworks restrictions, like a reduced speed limit, when work happening on the opposite carriageway affects our monitoring systems on both sides.
Why build all the emergency areas at once? Why not spread them out?
We are committed to building at least 150 additional emergency areas by the end of March 2025. We are working very hard to meet the commitment and will remove the roadworks as soon as we safely can.
Why can’t I see anyone working?
We appreciate that it can be very frustrating to drive through roadworks and not see work being carried out. We’d like to assure you that we are working very hard to complete these upgrades as quickly and efficiently as possible. We’ve completed well over a million working hours on these upgrades and are working hard to have them all complete by next spring.
Limiting delays
We have designed the roadworks with traffic flow in mind and keeping the open lanes at full-width instead of narrowing them, as at many roadworks, is proving effective at helping to manage traffic flow.
We continue to keep the roadworks under review and consider all options for maximising traffic flow without compromising safety. For example, where we can do it safely, we are increasing the speed limit to 60mph on the approach to the exit of roadworks to help traffic move more freely.
In exceptional cases, you may pass variable speed limits displaying on overhead gantries within the zone covered by speed limits indicated by hard signs. Should you be in any doubt about which speed limit applies in such a situation, we would recommend that you always comply with the lower of the speed limits indicated.
Where can I find out more information?
Find out more about our national emergency area retrofit programme.
Email the project team directly at EAretrofit@nationalhighways.co.uk.
Our investment in new emergency areas is all designed to help road users feel safe and be even safer on our roads. It's part of other improvements we're making, including:
- technology, such as stopped vehicle detection
- better and more signs
- more information about smart motorways online and in an updated Highway Code
Through all the work we are doing, we’re determined to:
- further reduce the number of casualties on our high-speed road network
- improve public confidence in our smart motorways
continue to build and operate one of the safest and best performing road networks in the world.
Documents
Traffic information
Information about scheduled roadworks and events on our motorways and major roads.X
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