All lane running: Second Report of Session 2016/17

The Government should not proceed with motorway ‘all lane running’ schemes while major safety concerns exist, the Transport Committee concluded.In its report on the issue published on 30 June the Transport Committee says that while Highways England may ‘consider the matter settled’, the Transport Committee believes that ‘the argument has not been won’.

Under ‘all lane running’ the motorway hard shoulder is used as a live lane of traffic. Previously, the hard shoulder has only been used at peak times or to deal with congestion.

The Transport Committee rejects the Government’s notion that this is an ‘incremental change’ and a ‘logical extension of previous schemes’.

Instead, it concludes that the permanent loss of the hard shoulder in all lane running schemes is a ‘radical change and an unacceptable price to pay for such improvements’.