News on M4 J3-12 smart motorway

There has been quite a bit of activity on the Commonplace site and we have responded to some of the comments residents and road users have raised with us in the article below. Also, our latest monthly news bulletin is out and can be found here.

The issues you have raised fall into five main themes:

The design and extent of the traffic management layout has had mixed views with some suggesting that the new layout and restricted speed has improved journeys along the M4 by smoothing the flow of traffic at peak times.

Some have asked why the roadworks are designed in the current format. Safety is the highest priority when planning works. Stopping sight distances, thinking time, reaction time and impact forces all change significantly between 70mph and 50mph. The locations and extent of all speed restrictions are carefully considered during the design and planning of the scheme and implemented for a specific reason.

Some have asked about what to do if you break down in the roadworks. We offer free recovery to a place of safety during roadworks and a handy guide to what to do can be found here, or in your highway code: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/highways-england/about-our-services#free-recovery .

For questions about the A329M, any work taking place is generally the responsibility of the Highways England Area 3 operations and maintenance team (contact info@highwaysengland.co.uk for more information) or Wokingham Borough Council. There are however 50 mph speed restrictions in place on the A329M as you approach the M4 to ensure people merge into the roadworks on the M4 at a sensible speed.

Some of you mentioned that signs were out of place or missing in early March – this was due to a few days of high winds that unfortunately took us a little while to resolve and get everything back in order.

The overall end date for the whole scheme is Spring 2022, however there are changes currently taking place to the programme and we will be updating the websites in due course. There is a variety of work taking place up and down the route and we are continuously reviewing our work programme to ensure we can deliver the project as efficiently and effectively as possible. This includes extending traffic management to different sections of the route between to allow for enabling work and the installation of technology at different locations to better prepare for the start of main work. The programme is of course subject to change throughout the scheme.

Night work is unavoidable due to the requirement to keep 3 narrow lanes open through our roadworks during the day. When we have overnight works, we do try our upmost to reduce noise as far as is practicable and ensure disturbances to our neighbours is kept to a minimum. We will continue to do this for our planned overnight activities and ensure, where possible, mitigation measures are in place. Our community relations team also writes out to local residents near the motorway when noisy works are coming up. If you live in a brand new estate near the M4 this might not have been considered as part of the M4 Development Consent Order granted in 2016. We recommend asking the housebuilder and the local authority what noise mitigation measures are included in the planning conditions attached to the permission for the development.

Our research shows that the latest generation of smart motorways are performing well in line with expectations. Data released last year for the M25 J5-7 and J23-27 All Lane Running (ALR) schemes show that capacity has been successfully increased and they are meeting or exceeding their safety objectives. Across the two schemes the casualty rate reduced by 27%. The overwhelming majority of drivers are complying with the Red X signals which are used to shut off lanes in the event of an incident. These smart motorways have also successfully reduced the stop-start congestion that smart motorways were designed to tackle. We are confident that this will be replicated on the M4 J3-12.

We have made changes to certain work based on your feedback. Our local compounds have been reduced in size and number thanks to the large compound and office site near J10 but we still have a local presence and aim to good neighbours. We have responded to concerns about noise and light pollution at our local compounds and have made changes where possible. If have any questions or issues about our works near you home, please do get in touch.