MOTORWAYS

Britain's motorway services are the most expensive in Europe. A survey claims that motorists also have to put up with poor hygiene in eating areas and toilets and abysmal service from surly, unmotivated staff. Five out of six UK service stations rated either "poor" or "very poor" for their prices, according to a report by the AA and other European motoring organisations. Only the Moto service station on the M1 at Toddington was rated 'acceptable' on price, but it was rated the worse overall.

It had "dirty tables and chairs," toilets that were "shabby and dirty", a limited selection of food, and staff who appeared "neither motivated nor trained". The survey of nine countries found a "small meal" was most expensive in the UK, £16.69 for a bottle of water, a cappuccino, a meat or poultry dish and a small salad. That was ordered at Clacket Lane Services run by RoadChef on the M25. The bill was £2.65 more than in traditionally high-priced Switzerland, and more than Spain (£13.45) and Denmark (£12,09).

Even the cheapest small meal ordered was £13.73 at Fleet Services (run by Welcome Break) on the M3 in Hampshire but it was £3.65 more than the equivalent meal in Switzerland, and nearly double the £6.42 charged in Italy. The AA said, "Culinary highlights should not be expected. Outdoor facilities, the restaurant and toilet sometimes needed to be cleaned more thoroughly. Prices are enough to bring a tear to the eye." The service station operators insisted they are investing in improving services. (Source: Daily Mail, Jul/07)

The M1 is to become the first road in Britain to get a revolutionary underground heating system to stop it freezing over. Giant pipes under the road will slowly melt snow and ice before it sets on the surface, making gritters a thing of the past. The pipes carry a special fluid which retains heat from the road during the summer and slowly releases it when it freezes.

But in the summer it works the other way to cool the road and stop tarmac expanding in the heat, which causes it to crack and potholes to appear. The invention is modelled on the undersoil heating systems at football grounds.

The Highways Agency will carry out a two-year trial on a 60-metre stretch of service road near Toddington services in Bedfordshire. If successful, it will be used on motorways around the country. Ginny Clarke, Highways Agency chief engineer, said, "If it proves to be effective and practical, there could be real benefits for road users."

The technology was developed by London sustainable energy firm Icax whose director Mark Hewitt said, "It is an environmentally friendly British invention that will transform the way roads are used. There will be no need for gritting in winter, roads will be cool in the summer and require less maintenance as surfaces last longer." We will see.

For more information about sustainable energy visit: www.icax.co.uk

Motorists will be able to drive on motorway hard shoulders at busy times as a cheap alternative to road widening. Motoring groups said that the idea would reduce delays for millions but gave warning that emergency services would take longer to reach road accidents because there would be no spare lane.

The measure will be introduced on many of Britain’s congested motorways, increasing capacity by a third at a fraction of the cost of building an extra lane, if a pilot scheme proves successful. Hard shoulders can be converted for use by traffic in only two years, compared with up to ten years to plan and construct additional lanes.

Drivers who break down on the motorway will be able to pull into new lay-bys, known as emergency refuges, which have been built at 500-metre intervals. Access to the hard shoulder will be controlled via a series of gantries across the motorway. Sensors under the road surface will detect when congestion is building up and send a message to the agency’s control centre.

Digital screens on the gantries will inform drivers that they can use the hard shoulder. The gantries will display a red cross over the hard shoulder when it is closed and a round speed limit sign when it is open. The limit for all lanes will be reduced to a maximum of 50mph when the hard shoulder is in use. Reducing the limit in congested conditions has been shown on the M25 to improve average journey times by deterring lane hopping.

The control centre will use a network of CCTV cameras to spot when a vehicle breaks down and cannot reach a refuge. The Highways Agency said that signs on the gantries would be changed in seconds, telling drivers to leave the hard shoulder and warning of a hazard ahead.

The Highways Agency said it would not be possible to convert the hard shoulder on motorways built on stilts because creating refuges would be prohibitively expensive. But motorways where the hard shoulder narrowed at bridges could gain an extra lane by reducing the width of the central reservation.

Motorway traffic has increased by 37% in the past ten years, but the network has grown by only 0.5%, or 175 miles. Motorways carry a fifth of all traffic but represent less than 1% of the total length of all roads. They are the country’s safest roads, with a death rate of 0.1 per 625,000 miles driven, compared with 0.7 on rural roads. There were 164 deaths on motorways in 2004.

Other schemes for reducing congestion include installing traffic lights on entry slip roads on the M6, M60, M62 and M25. Vehicles enter the motorway only when there is a gap in the traffic. The agency will also give a trial to American-style car sharing lanes on part of the M62 and M606 in West Yorkshire from next year, and on the M1 between St Albans and Luton from 2008. Only drivers carrying at least one passenger will be allowed to use the lanes. (Source: Times Online, Aug/06)