UK government: no more smart motorways without stopped car detection

Re:UK government: no more smart motorways without stopped ca... by helsinkiandrew on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @02:59AM (#26886241)

Roads are hideously expensive - but smart motorways aren't just wifi enabled signs: there's traffic/weather detection and then the control systems behind adaptive traffic lighting/speed control - and those systems have to be reliable and maintained.

I haven't seen recent statistics/costs but remember that the cost of the converting the M42 in 2006 to a smart motorway was £9M per mile, creating a new lane would have been £16M per mile.

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Re:UK government: no more smart motorways without stopped ca... by kylegordon on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @03:08AM (#26886308)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_motorway has a list of miles and costs.

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Re:UK government: no more smart motorways without stopped ca... by londons_explore on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @03:29AM (#26886431)

In the days when I can buy a weather station for $16 or get the weather in my phone for free, I don't think this should add much to the cost.

Likewise I can get bulbs that turn themselves on and off based on weather, light, the stock market or the phase of the moon, all for $3 from China. There is no way someone should be allowed to charge the UK government millions for the same.

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Re:UK government: no more smart motorways without stopped ca... by reom_tobit on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @05:29AM (#26887219)

I doubt the $3 weather sensor has been tested / rated / secured in the same way that sensors for a motorway would be.

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