Motorway drivers in Essex get the Midas touch
Drivers on the M11 in Essex will be experiencing improvements in journey times and safety due to new technology from the Highways Agency.
The Agency has recently installed a system called Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling (MIDAS) between Junction 6 (M25) and Junction 8 (Stansted).
We have invested £15 million on the technology aimed at reducing delays and boosting driver safety by providing better information to drivers.
The upgrade features two overhead messaging signs at the junctions that inform drivers about problems ahead and give them the opportunity to use alternative routes.
Additionally, twenty-one smaller message signs are being used to set advisory speed limits and hazard warning messages between the junctions. Traffic sensors installed in the road detect slow-moving and stationary vehicles and trigger advance warning messages on the signs about potential queues ahead.
The technology upgrade also includes nineteen CCTV cameras that will enable staff at the Highway Agency’s South Mimms Regional Control Centre to cut reaction times when responding to incidents.
Neil Doherty, Highways Agency Project Sponsor said:
“The Highways Agency is committed to reducing the impact caused by delays to drivers’ journeys and this technology will provide better information to road users, improving safety and allowing drivers to make informed decisions about their journey.
“When the MIDAS system has been used elsewhere in the UK, it has led to an average reduction of 13% of secondary incident – this is where one vehicle runs into the back of another, which is in a tailback because of an initial road incident.”
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