The 60mph speed restrictions on the M1 and M6 will be removed after National Highways admitted air pollution had risen in places and it didn’t know whether the restrictions had helped. The Telegraph has the story.
Since 2021, drivers have been forced to slow down on stretches of motorway such as the M1 between junctions 28 to 35a in a bid to ascertain if driving more slowly helps reduce emissions.
The restrictions were supposed to last between 12 and 15 months, with National Highways promising that data showing if the schemes were working would be available last spring.
On Friday, the body said the sections would return to the national speed limit of 70mph after pollution had fallen in the areas, but could not say whether this was because of the trials or because there were more electric and hybrid cars on the road.
Angela Halliwell, the head of the National Highways’ carbon and air quality group, said: “There is an overall trend that air quality is improving across our network. Removing 60mph speed limits from sections of the M1 and M6 where air quality has improved is a positive step.
“Ultimately, air quality will be solved ‘at the tailpipe’ by vehicle manufacturers and changes in vehicle use.”
A new report released by National Highways this week shows that nitrogen dioxide levels fell in the Rotherham speed restriction zone from 39 micrograms per [cubic] metre (µg/m3) to 35 µg/m3.
Likewise, pollution has dropped in Manchester from 38 µg/m3 to 31 µg/m3.
National Highways said it was “highly unlikely” that the pollution would exceed the legal limit if restrictions were removed, but could not say how it had come to that conclusion. It said it would continue to monitor both locations.
However, the report also shows that some areas with speed restrictions have seen pollution levels increase, including the trial site at the M602 at Eccles, and the M4 at Hillingdon. Nitrogen dioxide levels have remained the same at the M5 at Oldbury.
Motoring groups have previously warned that speed restrictions could increase congestion and may worsen pollution.
National Highways said that air quality was influenced by multiple factors and that building work near the speed restriction areas may have played a factor.
When asked what they thought was causing pollution to rise or fall in the various areas, the body said: “We generally don’t know.” …
Experts called for the remaining limits to also be scrapped if there was no evidence they were working.
Worth reading in full.
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I recently hit west midlands police with eight FOI requests, specifically targeting information about accidents, SP50 notices issued, and pollution levels for the variable speed limit sections of the M6 under their jurisdiction. I fully intended to make this information publicly available and planned to send to the press. Now this. A remarkable coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe they wanted to get ahead of the game. I’m still awaiting the responses but, if the responses prove what I expect they’ll prove, will see these people in court.
The more I think about it, the more I think speed limits should be advisory.
Yet more taxpayers money wasted on a pointless exercise. Either we have motorways and use them as intended or we scrap them and build homes for immigrants on them.
Please don’t suggest that as someone in government might think it’s a good idea…
… with or without stopping the traffic?
The air isn’t static, particularly with movement through it. Then there’s weather. Rainfall removes gases, wind currents move them on and dilute them.
Car engines, to meet economy targets and emissions targets, are tuned to burn cleaner at higher speeds.
Slowing down then speeding up, increases emissions.
Sudden speed limits cause bunching, slowing traffic down, maybe even to a stop – increases emissions.
You don’t need to be an expert to understand that it is impossible to control a dynamic, multi-variable, chaotic system by adjusting just one variable, but you do have to be an expert not to understand that. See: lockdowns, masks, vax; climate change; banning plastic straws, cups and bags.
They lowered the motorway speed limit to 100km/h from 120/130km/h here in the Netherlands several years back. Mostly everybody completely ignores it on principle, including myself. It’s just an absolute joke ( you can drive at the old speeds over night/early morning though ) and based on garbage. I work in Belgium part of the week so as soon as you go over the border you can legally drive at 120km/h anyway, so I just do that in the NL. Does the ‘Climate Science’ respect borders? Then you have Germany over the other border and their autobahn, where you can drive with no upper speed limit for whole sections of it, but 130km/h is the advised speed. So where does actual science factor in when we’re talking about these two countries sandwiching a tiny country such as this?
It reminds me of the Covid nonsense over here; Wear your mask on the bus but not at the cinema. Stand 1.5m away from someone but .5m puts you in grave danger. It’s farcical. There’s no cameras, no police so I just speed, screw it and your garbage science. This article goes into the theory but I call BS on it. Every other EU country has a 120 or 130km/h limit but we’re singled out, because ”nitrogen crisis”?! STFU.
”The Netherlands is in the grip of a nitrogen crisis, or more precisely, a nitrogen deposition crisis: “Nitrogen makes up almost 80% of the air we breathe. Traffic emits pollutants into the atmosphere, including nitrogen oxides, which are deposited on the ground. This deposition of nitrogen compounds is the main problem,” explains Bert van Wee. “According to calculations by the RIVM (Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), traffic only accounts for around 6% of this deposition. If cars, vans and motorcycles drive at 100 km/h instead of 120 or 130, this reduces deposition by a few tenths of a percent. Although nature will not notice the difference, the reduction will make it possible for several construction projects to go ahead. This is why politicians opted to reduce speeds to 100 km/h in 2019.”
https://www.tudelft.nl/en/stories/motorway-speed-limits-of-100-km-h-largely-advantageous
What is required is complete transparency from the public sector that we pay for.
I would like to see the names of the senior civil servants who drafted up this scheme, the names of all the ministers who asked them to draft it and the name of the minister who finally signed it off.
I would like that information now for every act of parliament and statutory instrument put in place from now onwards.
If we are to have complete lunacy, let us at least be clear who the fecking lunatics are…..
I’m assuming it’s all of them
Someone needs to educate the Senescent Sennedd.
this cassen educate pork.