15 June 2012
Road users are reminded that the Highways Agency will be testing the newly-installed managed motorway systems on the M1 between junctions 10 and 11 (where roadworks were removed on 15 May) this weekend.
The systems will be tested on Sunday 17 June between 10am and 3pm. During these times, operators in the regional control centre at South Mimms will set overhead electronic signals to display variable mandatory speed limits (appear within red rings) and will set the overhead message signs to indicate when drivers can use the hard shoulder as an extra lane.
Road users are advised to follow the overhead signs and signals, and reminded that when the hard shoulder is not indicated as a running lane it should be used for emergency purposes only, as per Motorway Regulations.
A week of extended testing is also planned, and the Agency will update road users with the dates for this nearer the time.
This testing is to ensure the systems and technologies in place are working correctly. It is being carried out in advance of the introduction of a fully operational managed motorway on this section of the M1 this summer. Once it is fully operational, the variable speed limits will be displayed during busy periods and the hard shoulder will be made available as a traffic lane, giving extra capacity to road users.
Work continues on the rest of the managed motorway scheme, between junctions 11 and 13, and is due to be fully completed by spring 2013.
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