M3 and M25 plans cancelled as all new smart motorways scrapped

The M3 between Winchester and the M27 was due to be converted Credit: PA

Plans to create a smart motorway between Winchester and the M27 are among dozens of road schemes to be scrapped, amid high costs and lack of public confidence.

Rishi Sunak has announced plans to cancel ALL new smart motorways, and invest £900 million in safety improvements for existing smart motorways.

In total, fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 which were paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from government road building plans.

They include the M3 between Junctions 9 and 14, and the M25 between Junctions 10 and 16.

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Smart motorways already exist on the M3 between Junctions 2 and 4a, on the M4 between Junctions 3 and 12, and on the M27 in Hampshire between Junctions 11 and 4.

The decision to scrap the plans has been welcomed by road safety campaigners.

President of the Basingstoke-based Edmund King said: “We have had enough coroners passing down their deadly and heart-breaking judgments where the lack of a hard shoulder has contributed to deaths.

“At last the Government has listened and we are delighted to see the rollout of ‘smart’ motorways scrapped…

“We would also like to see the hard shoulder reinstated on existing stretches in due course.”

Smart motorways were developed to create more capacity and cut congestion on roads, without spending money and causing disruption building news ones.

They incorporate the hard shoulder, and campaigners say it left motorists with nowhere to go in the event of a collision or breakdown.

Claire Mercer, whose husband died on a smart motorway in 2019, welcomed the move but pledged to continue campaigning for the hard shoulder to return on every road.

Claire Mercer began campaigning after the death of her husband, Jason Credit: PA

Jason Mercer was one of two men hit by a lorry on the M1 near Sheffield after they stopped on the inside lane of the smart motorway following a minor collision.

Mrs Mercer said: "I'm particularly happy that it's been confirmed that the routes that are in planning, in progress, have also been cancelled. I didn't think they'd do that.

"So it's good news, but obviously it's the existing ones that are killing us. And I'm not settling for more emergency refuge areas."

The Government and National Highways says it has earmarked £900 million to improve safety on existing routes creating 150 more emergency stopping places across the network.

Earlier this year an ITV Meridian investigation found that some smart motorway refuge areas had not been built to the intended recommended safety standards.