Most of you will have seen the active traffic management in place on the M42 at Junction 5. This is where we can use the hard shoulder keeping to a 50 mile per hour speed limit to prevent stopping and starting at peak traffic periods, the goal being to reduce our journey times. I have found this scheme really useful, though it seemed strange at first it has reduced my journey times. Hope you have found some benefit too. We need all the help we can get in this area, particularly at this holiday time of year. I can’t be the only one who has been sat in the car fretting about the queue at check in. The scheme has proven to be a success and so the highways agency are now implementing something they call “through junction running” on the South bound carriageway. This means that motorists can remain on the hard shoulder to continue their journey whether they are exiting the motorway at the next junction or continuing on the motorway. This will save lane changing and is aimed at further reducing journey times at times of heavy traffic. Here’s to less waiting in traffic. If you have anything useful to say to Solihull motorists about local roads and journeys we’d like to hear from you. Further information can also be found at the Highways Agency website, www.highways.gov.uk/atm. Please pass the information onto anyone local who may not have heard yet.
