Highways Agency lifts road works to help bank holiday motorists
20 May 2014 02:52 PM
Drivers will have better journeys this bank holiday
weekend as 98% of England’s motorways and major A roads will be free of
road works.
The
Highways Agency will be clearing 75% of its road works to help minimise
congestion and smooth journeys over the bank holiday weekend. 180
miles of road works will be completed by Friday 23 May and 145 miles of road
works are being suspended until Tuesday 27 May.
Record amounts are being invested in roads and the
Highways Agency is doing more work to improve the condition of its network and
reduce congestion, which means people will generally see more road works. To
keep the inevitable disruption to a minimum, the Agency does much of its work
overnight and outside of peak periods, and completes or suspends the majority
of its work for busy times such as bank holidays.
Simon Sheldon-Wilson, Director of Traffic Management at
the Agency, said:
"To help road users enjoy this bank holiday weekend
– and hopefully some fine weather – we will be completing or
suspending over 320 miles of road works on motorways and major trunk roads. But
we still ask people to plan their journeys by making use of the traffic
information services we provide."
Friday evening and Saturday afternoon are expected to be
the busiest times over this bank holiday weekend, especially on the main
holiday routes, as people take day trips, short breaks or longer holidays for
the half term break.
In
all, 66 sets of road works are due to be completed on the Highways
Agency’s roads ahead of the bank holiday weekend. A further 47 sets of
road works and lane restrictions are due to be removed by 6am on Friday 23 May
and will not be put back before 12.01am on Tuesday 27 May. Lane restrictions or
temporary speed limits will need to remain
in place at 38 locations for the safety of drivers and their
passengers.
Highways Agency traffic officers will be visible on the
motorways and on standby to deal with any incidents and keep traffic moving so
disruption is kept to a minimum.
The
Highways Agency provides information services to help people check traffic
conditions for the motorways and other strategic roads. Live traffic
information is available through the Highways Agency’s website, local and national radio travel
bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile platforms, such as the iPhone. The
Agency provides regional Twitter feeds for live traffic information, available
on Twitter
Road users can also call the Highways Agency Information
Line (0300 123 5000) to keep up to date with road conditions.
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