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BBC are on it too, not that that’s in any way a more respectable link than the Mail these days…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65288852

“ Existing smart motorways - which make up 10% of England's motorway network - will remain but…”

I find that very reassuring as pretty much every stated government intention in recent decades nearly always proves groundless, once they’re on the defensive. Expect savage and mocking interviews and appraisals of those responsible, on the main news channels. If I were a betting man (I’m not, as I always lose) I’d be tempted to bet there won’t be a single mile of them left by the next election.

They’re a lot easier to take out than they were to put in. One solid white line painted between lane 1 and lane 2 and the hard shoulder is back.

Jonquirk wrote:They’re a lot easier to take out than they were to put in. One solid white line painted between lane 1 and lane 2 and the hard shoulder is back.

And expect hard shoulder collisions from "I didn't know it had changed" drivers?

There's been enough Red X compliance problems to hint at that.

Horse wrote:And expect hard shoulder collisions from "I didn't know it had changed" drivers?

Agreed that’s a worry, but there’s a flip side... the 90% (according to BBC) of normal motorway miles may already be experiencing a similar phenomenon, and getting rid of SMs might improve it.

I’ve personally witnessed a few crazy overtakes using conventional hard shoulders in the last year or two. That used to be almost unheard of or at least I never, ever, saw it. Maybe, for a driver is who is happy to sometimes break the rules, SMs have made hard shoulder usage seem less naughty than it used to? Or it might be that people who regularly use an SM for their daily drive and then one day venture further afield, just don’t realise that other motorways are different?

A simple rule of words to effect of “don’t ever drive on the hard shoulder” is maybe easier to get across, imho.

Another Bill wrote:
A simple rule of words to effect of “don’t ever drive on the hard shoulder” is maybe easier to get across, imho.

When 'dynamic' hard shoulders were introduced, I found challenging to deliberately drive over a solid white line.

Contrary to other views, it might not be just a case of 'paint solid lines'. I imagine that junction layouts will need rework, along with signing. And probably GPS too, that often gives illustrations of lanes.

And wait for the complaints about roadworks & closures to do the work.

Horse wrote:When 'dynamic' hard shoulders were introduced, I found challenging to deliberately drive over a solid white line.

Contrary to other views, it might not be just a case of 'paint solid lines'. I imagine that junction layouts will need rework, along with signing. And probably GPS too, that often gives illustrations of lanes.

And wait for the complaints about roadworks & closures to do the work.

I’d not dismiss any of these, all valid points.

Last year I visited North Wales for the first time (shame on me, for leaving it so long) and found it very weird to find solid double white lines separating lanes on A55 dual carriageway near the tunnels. Then I looked in the mirror to see traffic signs facing the ‘wrong way’. I actually freaked for a moment, wondering whether I’d somehow strayed onto a single carriageway road that I’d thought was a dual. For those not familiar, I gather the individual tunnels need to be closed for maintenance sometimes, whereupon one side of the dual does become a 2-way road, hence the double white lines and signage. I suspect my self-induced panic was own fault, despite the IAM sticker in my back window, for not absorbing the signage correctly.

Ref SM junction redesigns I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. SM junctions seem to have more than their share of dedicated lanes at junctions, whereby traffic in lane 1 always leaves, whilst joining traffic simply forms a new lane 1. Problem I have with that is, local young drivers are learning to ‘use’ motorways, without actually learning how to use slip roads - they’re being spoon-fed. And then when they venture further afield, they’ve no idea.

Regarding maps updates, yes, that’ll be a challenge and potentially dangerous. But it must be something they can cope with, such as when when inner city one-way systems are redesigned?