Our ref: FOI 744,169 M6 Junction 16-19 Smart Motorway Your ref: Project Team Highways 11th Floor The Cube Ms Peters Rock 199 Wharfside Street B1 1RN

Sent by e-mail Customer Contact Centre Information Line: 0300 123 5000

18 November 2016

Dear Ms Peters Rock

M6 junction 16-19 smart motorways scheme - Freedom of Information request

I am writing to confirm that we have now completed our search for the information which you requested on 21 October 2016.

Answers have been provided in blue directly under the questions in corresponding order raised in your enquiry:

1 the number of vehicle accidents which have taken place on the , between Junctions 16 and 19 in the years 2010 to 2016, shown annually? 2 of those accidents, how many resulted in injuries, and to how many people? 3 of those accidents, how many resulted in deaths, and to how many people?

For answer to questions 1, 2 and 3, please refer to the statistics provided in the below tables. Please note that we do not hold validated data for 2016.

It should be noted that these are the number of accidents recorded by the Police through Stats19 recording system and they are all personal injury accidents. They do not include damage only accidents. We do not have any accurate record of damage only accidents.

Measures : No. Accidents Primary Road : M6 J16 to M6 J19

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Fatal 3 1 2 1 2 1

Serious 11 8 14 7 9 8 Slight 107 79 80 88 104 82 Total 121 88 96 96 115 91

Registered office Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 4LZ Company Limited registered in England and Wales number 09346363

Measures : No. Casualties Primary Road : M6 J16 to M6 J19

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Fatal 4 1 2 1 2 1 Serious 14 11 19 7 12 12

Slight 193 159 170 162 183 146 Total 211 171 191 170 197 159

4 when was the 'Smart' motorway begun? and when was it completed?

The works for the M6 junctions 16-19 smart motorway scheme began on the network on 19 February 2016 and construction work is ongoing. However, this was preceded by surveys and other types of advance works such as setting up the site compound from December 2015.

5 how many accidents per month, during the 'Smart' motorway's time of alteration and operation, have taken place?

March - 5 accidents April - 12 accidents May - 12 accidents June - 25 accidents July - 33 accidents August - 38 accidents September - 36 accidents October (up to 16th ) - 24 accidents

6 of those accidents, how many resulted in injuries, and to how many people?

Number of people injured is unknown/not recorded by site but assume 1 per accident involving emergency services

March - no involvement of emergency services / record of any injuries April - no involvement of emergency services / record of any injuries May - 1 involved emergency services, therefore assume 1 injury June - 3 involved emergency services, therefore assume 3 injuries July - 5 involved emergency services, therefore assume 5 injuries August - 6 involved emergency services, therefore assume 6 injuries September - 4 involved emergency services, therefore assume 4 injuries October (up to 16th ) - 3 involved emergency services, therefore assume 3 injuries

7 of those accidents, how many resulted in death, and to how many people?

Registered office Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 4LZ Highways England Company Limited registered in England and Wales number 09346363

No fatalities.

8 since the inception of the 'Smart' motorway, on how many occasions has traffic been turned off the motorway and onto ordinary roads, because of a)roadworks and b) accidents?

a) The M6 junctions 16-19 smart motorway scheme has closed the highway on 8 occasions to facilitate certain works.

b) We are able to provide non-validated data taken from our Command and Control database up to 31 August 2016 for road traffic collisions on the M6 junctions 16-19 smart motorway scheme.

From 19 February 2016 to 31 August 2016, there have been 7 closures where the carriageway has been closed in one direction only and where the overall incident description is that of road traffic collisions.

9 does hard running occur throughout the length of the M6 between Junctions 16-19? If there are any gaps in 'Smart' sections, where are they?

The M6 junctions 16-19 smart motorway scheme will be all lane running (utilise the hard shoulder) for the length of the scheme. There will not be any gaps in the ‘Smart’ sections.

10 how many sections of 'Smart' motorway exist in England?

Thirteen (13)

11 assuming that each section of 'Smart' motorway in England has been assessed for effectiveness, safety, danger by any relevant body: what safety or danger information exists in respect of vehicles on those sections of 'Smart' motorway?

One year after the M25 junctions 23 to 27 and junctions 5 to 7 smart motorway schemes opened for traffic we published interim reports based on the first 12 months of performance data which indicate the concept is working well, in line with expectations. Journey times and reliability have improved, especially in peak periods and there have been overall reductions in collision and casualty rates. And by keeping traffic on the motorway or attracting traffic to it, more traffic is kept on our safest roads, meaning more road users are driving in a safer environment.

Overall there has been a reduction in the collision and casualty rates on both sections of smart motorway:

Scheme Collision rates Casualty rates J23-27 19% reduction 15% reduction J5-7 15% reduction 27% reduction

Registered office Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 4LZ Highways England Company Limited registered in England and Wales number 09346363

But we will continue to monitor the safety on these smart motorways, as we do across our road network. We do not believe that any casualties are acceptable and have an ambition that nobody should be harmed on our network.

Our reports show that drivers on the M25 have benefitted from improved journey times and journey time reliability – these are the core objectives of a smart motorway.

Journey time performance improvements

Time period J23-27 J23-27 Anti- J5-7 J5-7 Anti- Clockwise clockwise Clockwise clockwise AM peak Mon- 7% 19% 3% -2% Thurs PM peak Mon- 4% 7% 0% 6% Thurs

Journeys which were previously only lightly congested and where vehicle speeds were relatively high, such as mornings anti-clockwise J5-7, have maintained performance.

Journey time reliability performance improvements

Time period J23-27 J23-27 Anti- J5-7 J5-7 Anti- Clockwise clockwise Clockwise clockwise AM peak Mon- 6% 22% 11% 0% Thurs PM peak Mon- 12% 7% 1% 5% Thurs

The worst journeys on J23-27 used to take nearly 40 minutes; these have now almost halved (25 minutes), significantly reducing congestion at the busiest times.

It should be noted that the improvements have been felt at a time when the volume of traffic using the ALR sections has increased:  In particular, between junctions 23 and 25 traffic flows in the morning peak period from Monday to Thursday have increased by 10-12% in both directions, with more moderate increases of 4-9% in the afternoon peak.  Between junctions 5 and 6, Monday to Thursday morning peak flows have increased between 2% and 14%, with increases of up to 10% in the afternoon peak.

Further information can be found in the two reports for the schemes, I have provided the links below.

 M25 J5-7: http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/projects/smart-motorway-all- lane-running-sm-alr-1st-scheme-monitoring-j5-7

Registered office Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 4LZ Highways England Company Limited registered in England and Wales number 09346363

 M25 J23-27: http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/projects/smart-motorway- all-lane-running-sm-alr-1st-scheme-monitoring-j23-27

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request you may ask for an internal review. Our internal review process is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/highways-england/about/complaints- procedure

If you require a print copy, please phone the Information Line on 0300 123 5000; or e- mail [email protected]. You should contact me if you wish to complain.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote reference number 744,169 in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

M6 Junction 16-19 Smart Motorway Project Team Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.highways.gov.uk

Registered office Bridge House, 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford GU1 4LZ Highways England Company Limited registered in England and Wales number 09346363