M1 and M5 emergency area retrofit programme
We’re building additional emergency areas on our all lane running smart motorways in the Midlands.
Project information
The safety and confidence of people travelling on England’s motorways and major A-roads is our highest priority.
We’ve been listening to your concerns and have developed a programme to create additional emergency areas on sections of all lane running (ALR) smart motorway across the country.
Emergency areas provide a place to stop in an emergency if you can't exit the motorway or stop at a motorway service area.
They're clearly signed at regular intervals along the motorway and have bright orange road surfaces to help you identify them. At 100 metres long they have plenty of space for even the largest lorry plus a recovery vehicle, and they're equipped with emergency telephones linking directly to our control rooms to get help on the way quickly.
What are we doing in the Midlands?
Work to create extra emergency areas on motorways across the Midlands starts in spring 2024, with a coordinated series of upgrades getting underway along the M1 and nearby on the M5.
We'll retrofit 56 new emergency areas on four motorway stretches across the Midlands:
- M1 between junctions 23a and 25 in Leicestershire and Derbyshire – 6 new emergency areas
- M1 between junctions 28 and 30 in Derbyshire – 20 new emergency areas
- M1 between junctions 16 and 19 in Northamptonshire – 20 new emergency areas
- M5 between junctions 4a and 6 in Worcestershire – 10 new emergency areas
The exact number of emergency areas on each section of motorway may change. This is because we can't rule out finding unexpected conditions which prevent work at any individual location after construction begins.
We’ll deliver this work in phases, starting spring 2024, and expect to complete our work by spring 2025.
How will this work affect journeys?
To carry out our work safely, lane one of the motorways listed above will be closed throughout the duration of our work. Lanes two, three and four will remain open with a 50mph speed limit in place.
CCTV cameras will continue to monitor the carriageway and 24-hour free recovery will be in operation.
The lane one closure will be installed overnight using a temporary barrier to protect our workforce and the travelling public. We always do our best to minimise disruption and we apologise in advance should this work cause an inconvenience to you.
Existing emergency areas on the motorways will remain open wherever possible. At limited locations where it's necessary to temporarily close an emergency area, a temporary emergency area will be provided nearby and clearly signed.
Where can I find out more information?
Find out more about our national emergency area retrofit programme.
Email the project team directly at EAretrofit@nationalhighways.co.uk.
M1 between junctions 23a and 25
We finished the six emergency areas in this section of work just before Christmas 2024. All of our roadworks have been removed and the M1 reopened at the national speed limit.
Thank you for your patience while this work was carried out.
M1 between junctions 28 and 30
We'll build 20 additional emergency areas between junctions 28 and 30 of the M1 with construction work starting from Tuesday 2 April 2024. Our work is scheduled to be complete by the end of March 2025.
M1 between junctions 16 and 19
We’re building 20 additional emergency areas between junctions 16 and 19 of the M1. Our work is scheduled to be complete by the end of March 2025.
On occasions we'll require additional closures which will be signed on the highway.
Please remember that closure details can change at short notice. For the most up-to-date information, please visit our daily closures page.
You can also check our X (formerly Twitter) account (@HighwaysEMIDS).
We’re sorry for the disruption this work may cause.
We encourage you to plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling.
M5 between junctions 4a and 6
We've completed construction of 10 additional emergency areas between junctions 4a and 6 of the M5, and between now and March we will be testing and commissioning them.
Some of the testing works will be done overnight under lane closures to minimise disruption during the day.
Also this week we are cleaning drains and finishing off the final asphalt layers to one of the emergency area bays.
The following closures will be in place overnight from 8pm until 6am:
- Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 January - M5 J6 to 5 northbound – lanes 1, 2 and 3 closure
- Also on Tuesday 21 January - M5 J5 to 4a northbound (a section of) – lanes 1, 2 and 3 closure
- Wednesday 22, Thursday 23 and Friday 24 January - M5 J4a to 5 southbound – lanes 1, 2 and 3 closure
- Also on Thursday 23 January M5 J5 to 4a northbound – lanes 1, 2 and 3 closure
We’re sorry for any disruption this work may cause to your journey, and we encourage drivers to plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling.
All closures are subject to change at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances or poor weather conditions. Please check this webpage and our X (formerly Twitter) account (@HighwaysWMIDS) before travelling for the latest information.
You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England site. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.
Overview
Emergency areas provide a place to stop in an emergency if drivers can't exit the motorway or stop at a motorway service area.
They are marked by blue signs featuring an orange SOS telephone symbol. Each is coloured orange and is around the same length as a football pitch. They’re positioned at regular intervals, providing somewhere safe to stop and have phones linked directly to our control rooms.
Read our advice about driving on motorways, including what to do in an emergency.
Benefits
Our investment in new emergency areas is designed to help road users feel safe and be even safer on our roads. Other improvements we're making include work on:
- technology, such as stopped vehicle detection
- better and more signs
- more information about smart motorways online and in an updated Highway Code
Through all the work we're doing, we’re determined to:
- further reduce the number of casualties on our high-speed road network
- improve public confidence in our smart motorways
- continue to build and operate one of the safest and best performing road networks in the world
Frequently asked questions
Why are the roadworks so long, and why do they need to be on both sides of the road?
Safety is our top priority. As the distance between emergency areas is relatively short, maintaining the lane closure between them is the best option as it reduces lane changes, helps keep traffic flowing and ultimately reduces the risk of any incidents.
Motorway technology often covers both sides of the road at once, and we have put roadworks restrictions, like a reduced speed limit, when work happening on the opposite carriageway affects our monitoring systems on both sides.
Why are you building all of the emergency areas at once? Why not spread them out?
We are committed to building at least 150 additional emergency areas by the end of March 2025. We are working very hard to meet the commitment and will remove the roadworks as soon as we safely can.
Why can’t I see anyone working?
We appreciate that it can be very frustrating to drive through roadworks and not see work being carried out. We’d like to assure you that we are working very hard to complete these upgrades as quickly and efficiently as possible. We’ve completed well over a million working hours on these upgrades and are working hard to have them all complete by next spring.
What are you doing to limit delays?
We have designed the roadworks with traffic flow in mind and keeping the open lanes at full-width instead of narrowing them, as at many roadworks, is proving effective at helping to manage traffic flow.
We continue to keep the roadworks under review and consider all options for maximising traffic flow without compromising safety. For example, where we can do it safely, we are increasing the speed limit to 60mph on the approach to the exit of roadworks to help traffic move more freely.
In exceptional cases, you may pass variable speed limits displaying on overhead gantries within the zone covered by speed limits indicated by hard signs. Should you be in any doubt about which speed limit applies in such a situation, we would recommend that you always comply with the lower of the speed limits indicated.
Documents
Traffic information
Information about scheduled roadworks and events on our motorways and major roads.X
Manage your cookie preferences to view the content on this page
Sign up for updates!
Keep up to date with what's happening on this scheme by signing up to our updates.
