60mph motorway plan dropped

Plans to impose a 60mph speed limit on parts of the M1 and M3 motorways have been put on hold.  The plan was to reduce pollution at peak times, but  Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has given the Highways Agency 18 months to devise alternative methods to tackle the issue.

The air quality concern about the M1 and M3 focused on road-widening schemes aimed at cutting congestion.

But Mr McLoughlin said “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.  Smart motorways are an effective and cost efficient way of increasing space on our roads, cutting jams and speeding up journey times and I am pleased to announce the start of work on these schemes.”