Plans for a blanket speed restriction on motorways to cut down on air pollution have been rejected by ministers after acknowledging that proposals such as these “are not acceptable”.
“The Transport Secretary has rejected this approach as the government’s preferred option for managing the problem and has instead asked the Highways Agency to rigorously investigate alternatives as work progresses on the schemes in the next 12 to 18 months”, reads the official statement.
Official consultation on the plan documents met with furious reception from motoring groups claiming that such a move could be ‘thin end of the wedge’.
The plans formulated by the Highways Agency proposed that few stretches along the M1 and M3 be reduced to a 60mph limit between 7am and 7pm seven days a week. This blanket reduction would have meant that two stretches on the M1 totalling 30 miles and a 3 miles stretch on M3 would have been go-slow zones.
Ministers revealed that the proposal was rejected as any solution that demands for varying speed limits “must only apply when absolutely necessary”.
“Let me be absolutely clear, I want all motorways to run at 70mph. While it sometimes makes sense to use variable limits to keep people moving, blanket reductions are not acceptable”, said Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary.
