A LEADING roads expert is calling for new technology to unclog the city's motorway network.

 

Neil Greig of the Institute of Advanced Motoring (IAM) wants road bosses to develop a 'smart motorway' to help unblock roads during peak times.

Drivers would use the hard shoulder as an extra lane with overhead signals and a high level of CCTV to maintain the safety of the roads.

The system has already been implemented in some parts of England, including London's notorious M25 which previously saw drivers queuing for up to 50 miles at rush hour.

Mr Greig, the IAM's director of Policy and Research now wants some of Glasgow's most congested roads, such as parts of the M74 and M8 in the city centre, to be smart motorways.

He said: "I think the most likely next step is going to be creating a smart motorway network - that involves using the hard shoulder but it's controlled by lots of CCTV and lane control signals. "There is a lot of active management of the M8 in Glasgow anyway but that takes it to another level.

"It's motorway widening on the cheap but particularly in the centre of Glasgow where we can't build much more, it's trying to make the most of what we've got.

"It will allow us to use the hard shoulder at the most busy points and that will give extra capacity and hopefully keep things moving for another 20 years.

"It should be implemented on all the motorways in the city centre - the M8, M77 and M74 .

"We need to look at converting them to smart motorways. "

Mr Greig said the key problem for the city's roads are that the main bulk of traffic travels along the Kingston Bridge and practically nothing can be done to improve the congestion in that area.

But the smart system would help to improve the flow of traffic in the city centre and in other busy sections of Glasgow's main motorways.

He added: "We still have all the traffic funnelling in to the centre of Glasgow via the Kingston Bridge - a two-lane road to Charing cross.

"No matter what you do, ultimately you've still got an old fashioned two lane underpass at Charing cross which we're never really going to be able to do much with, short of demolishing half of Sauchiehall street."

A Transport Scotland spokesman said:

"Work is already underway to identify how to make best use of available road capacity which is aimed at delivering better and more efficient journeys for road users on key parts of our trunk road network, including the M77.

"A variety of proposals are being considered, including variable speed limits, delay information displays and ramp metering at key junctions.

"In the short time since their opening in 2011, both the M74 completion and M80 Stepps to Haggs schemes have brought many benefits to road users including improved journey times for local and strategic journeys, improved safety and reduced traffic accidents, and better connectivity in central Scotland, the north and north-east as well as with other parts of the UK and wider European markets."