Costain completes construction of 41 M1 emergency areas ahead of schedule

The areas cover three schemes spanning more than 30 miles between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire, and are providing safety benefits for road users.

Costain, the infrastructure solutions company working as part of SMP Alliance, has completed the construction of 41 new emergency areas ahead of schedule between junctions 28 and 35A of the M1.

The emergency areas are on a 32-mile stretch of the motorway between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. They are part of National Highways’ National Emergency Area Retrofit (NEAR) programme, a £390m investment plan which, along with technology like stopped vehicle detection, aims to improve safety on the road network.

The emergency areas are stationed at regular intervals along the motorway where there isn’t a permanent hard shoulder, offering a safe place for road users to stop in an emergency. Each area is approximately 100 metres long and is clearly marked in orange tarmac and blue signs with an orange SOS telephone symbol.

Costain, as SMP Alliance on-site assembly partner, has now completed the installation of the final 22 emergency areas between junctions 28 and 30, with the spacing between emergency areas reduced by half.

The 32-mile stretch of road, which carries more than 200,000 vehicles a day, is now fully open for traffic at the national speed limit and has been completed ahead of schedule, improving regional mobility within Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.

Jacky Li, project director at Costain, commented: “It’s a fantastic achievement to have delivered these three schemes, which cover more than 30 miles of one of the UK’s busiest motorways, ahead of schedule. Through a collaborative approach and a like-minded group of delivery and supplier network partners in SMP Alliance, we’ve been able to efficiently and safely deliver all 41 emergency areas for National Highways.

“Our work will improve the resilience of the local road network, and the additional emergency areas will increase safety, reduce disruption and improve mobility for road users for many years to come, helping to drive prosperity across Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.”

The completion of the work follows Costain completing a ten-mile upgrade of the M6 in the North West in December last year, as well as a new nine mile stretch of dual carriageway on the A30 between Chiverton and Carland Cross in Cornwall.