Hard shoulder to be used as M1 widening bid is rejected

Drivers will be allowed to use the hard shoulder of the M1 after the Government rejected expensive plans to expand the motorway.

Many people in Leicestershire were opposed to the earlier proposals for a 10-lane superhighway. Now, the transport minister, Geoff Hoon, has decided it would not be value for money.

Instead, the hard shoulder will be opened up at busy times to provide extra capacity. When the extra lane is open, it will be advertised to drivers and the speed limit will be dropped to about 50mph for safety.

Mr Hoon said: "What we are proposing is to use the hard shoulder on a number of our motorways in order to relieve congestion at peak times.

"We've tried that out on the M42. That allows us to use the capacity when we need it, but not to put more concrete on to the countryside when we don't.

"The whole point of this is to recognise that we do need more space on our motorways, but we don't necessarily need it all the time."

The M1 hard shoulder plan will be copied on other roads, including the M6 and M25.

Environmental campaigners who have opposed the widening plans today welcomed the news.

Malcolm Hunter, spokesman for Leicester Friends of the Earth, said: "We very much welcome the decision to scrap the M1 widening plans, which would have cost an obscene amount of money that could be much better spent on improved and cheaper public transport."

Two projects linked to the widening, including the Kegworth bypass and a new flyover linking the M1 and M69, on the site of Leicester Forest East services, will still be built.

In Kegworth, villagers are delighted that their bypass will still happen.

John Pike, chairman of Bypass Action Group, said: "I'm very pleased. The traffic through Kegworth divides the village in half. The air quality is terrible and getting worse. When the bypass is built, we can become a proper village again."