Motorists using the M1 between Mansfield and Sheffield could soon be limited to a maximum speed of 60MPH during the day under proposals announced by the Highways Agency.

The Agency launched an eight week consultation on Monday into the lower speed limit as part of a planned upgrade to the M1 between junctions 28 and 35a to Smart Motorway standard. It claims that a 60MPH limit between 7am and 7pm will help to reduce air pollution and congestion and manage traffic speeds more effectively.

Environmental assessments showed that there is likely to be an adverse impact on local air quality if the motorway continues to operate at the national speed limit of 70MPH and hard shoulders are converted to permanent running lanes.

The Campaign for Better Transport welcomed the proposal for a lower speed limit. But its roads campaigner Sian Berry added: “As long as the proposal still includes plans to widen the road by opening the hard shoulder to traffic, this is just an exercise in damage limitation and will simply prevent air quality worsening rather than providing any actual improvement.”

Worry about poor air quality was behind a decision by the Highways Agency not to run traffic on the hard shoulder of a section of the M60 near Manchester which is to be converted to Smart Motorway (Transportation Professional, January issue, p5).

♦ The Highways Agency has awarded its sixth Asset Support Contract for Area 9 in the West Midlands to EM Highway Services. The £599M six year deal begins in July and covers more than 700km of major roads including the M5, M6, M40 and the M42.

(Photo: Andrew Loughran)

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