Some sections of the UK’s motorway network will have their speed limit reduced from 60mph to 70mph in a trial whose aim is to look at road traffic emissions. It’s thought that reducing the speed limit by 10mph will see a quantifiable reduction in the amount of CO2 emissions produced in the areas surrounding those stretches.
The roads taking part in the trial are a stretch of the M1 between junction 33 and 34, the M6 between junction six and seven, the M5 between one and two, and the M602 between one and three. Each of these sections is between four and five miles long, and the limit will be enforced 24 hours a day.
The trial, which is expected to last around 12 months, will begin imminently; the Government is already testing emissions levels on sections of motorway whose limit has been reduced to 60mph, including stretches of the A1, M4 and M32.
Highways England – that’s the Government department in charge of the road network – is currently looking at a raft of solutions to reduce emissions from cars. Most famously it implemented low emissions zones in major cities, and we’ll soon begin to see ‘green lanes’ in built up areas for zero emissions cars, but now it has the motorway network in its sights.
Speaking to The Times, Highways England Head of Environment Ivan Le Favre suggested that the Government was working on a variety of emissions reduction solutions while waiting for the problem to be solved “at the tailpipe by manufacturers.”
Up to 40,000 premature deaths every year are linked to poor quality air, while motorway traffic has risen by almost 25% over the last 20 years; one of the solutions the Government is looking at is emissions barriers between motorways and the surrounding towns. That’s currently being tested.
Keyword: 60mph motorway speed limit trial set to start