Express & Star

Meet team behind 1,600 miles of road keeping our highways congestion free

From a single nerve centre off the M5, a dedicated team of Highways England operators monitor more than 1,600 miles of road.

Published

It is a 24/7 undertaking, supported by 140 roadside officers, with the sole purpose of keeping the Midlands' roads free of congestion.

Walking into the bustling control centre, located at Quinton Business Park, you could be forgiven for thinking you had accidentally entered mission control at NASA.

A huge television display spans the entire of the front wall while rows of operators, complete with headsets, attempt to assess the data it presents.

On road team manager Felicity Joyce

In the centre is a map of the Midlands' motorways stretching from Junction 16 of the M6 at Stoke down as far as Strensham Services off the M5, shortly before it meets the M50.

It also shows the main A-roads running west towards the Welsh border and spans as far east as Banbury.

In total the control centre monitors 800 miles of motorway, including the M6, M5 and M54, and 860 miles of A-road including the A5, A38 and A50.

Around the central map live footage is displayed from a selection of more than 700 cameras located across this busy network or roads.

To help the operators, of which there are 60 working across six shifts, the display offers other sources of information.

On the left of the imposing screen are images from a 24-hour news service, either Sky or BBC, which can be the first to alert Highways England to a crash.

Below that are wind speed readings which are particularly important for the Midlands' roads as the region has the highest concentration of elevated motorways anywhere in the UK.

Anything above 25mph can seriously affect high-sided vehicles. Anything above 20mph and 'High Wind – Slow Down' is automatically displayed on the gantries.

And to the far right of the screen is information on the region's two sections of 'smart motorway' which run along parts of the M6 and M42.

Control room operator Steve Mason

This technology uses variable speed limits displayed above the carriageway and allows drivers to use the hard shoulder during peak times.

Emergency planning officer Frank Bird explains: "The main way we achieve this is through a series of copper loops located under the motorway which detect changes in the speed of traffic. When the traffic slows down the technology in the road sends a message to the overhead gantries to state 'queue caution' or 'slow down'."

In the case of a serious crash, where there is the need to close the motorway entirely, the focus of the control centre staff is on doing so as quickly as possible.

Mr Bird, added: "As a general rule we work to the estimation a mile of traffic takes about an hour to release, so getting the motorway shut quickly is crucial."

Smart motorways are perhaps the biggest tool at the control centre's disposal when it comes to reducing congestion. But how does slowing drivers down to 50mph speed up their journey?

"It is one of the oxymorons of smart motorways that if you slow people down to 50mph it might feel sluggish, but there is an improvement in journey time reliability," said Mr Bird.

"Otherwise at busy times people go at 70mph and have to brake sharply and that is when you get a crash."

Ultimately all the work by Highways England, particularly that from its control centre, is an effort to keep drivers safe.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.