Meeting the motorway people who aim to keep you on the road

But a visit to the East Region Control Centre near South Mimms service station revealed that not only is Big Brother watching, when it comes to the M1 he is also controlling speed limits, directing traffic into different lanes and watching for animals in the road (a more frequent occurrence than you might think).

It’s part of the new managed motorway scheme which is now up and running on the M1 – a 15-mile section from J10 Luton South to J13 for the A421 and Bedford.

It’s the first of its kind in the East of England and means controllers can monitor traffic and open the hard shoulder for use during peak times.Highways Agency project manager Lynne Stinson said: “The motorway management system has been shown to reduces to congestion, keep traffic flowing rather than stop-start and reduce accidents.”

The project budget was £504m, but the Highways Agency expect to complete the work at a cost of only £325m.

Main construction work started in December 2009 and the project opened ahead of schedule in December 2012, although there is still some finishing off to do overnight.

The East of England is one of the busiest motorway regions, covering nearly 400 miles of motorway and trunk roads with 360 Highways Agency staff on the road and in the control room. Operations manager Paul McWilliam said: “We have about 500 incidents a day in the East, but that could be anything from someone having a flat tyre to a major accident.

“Animals on the road are a common issue. We have on average two dogs a week, and ducklings like going on the hard shoulder. We also spotted an elephant once although it turned out to be a plastic one on the back of a lorry on its way to a theme park.

“Opening the hard shoulder depends on demand. It’s not needed all the time. The cost of having a hard shoulder is about half the price of having four full lanes.”

Mr McWilliam said people often try to use the hard shoulder even when it’s closed, and they need educating about what a big red cross over the lane means. (Don’t drive in this lane, in case you’re one of the dim ones).

There are 30 emergency refuge areas for breakdowns while the hard shoulder is being used as a lane.

Mr McWilliam said: “They do get misused. People use it for a comfort break, but don’t realise they are on camera.”

So next time you’re on the M1 and you are in need of a comfort break, if you decide to use the hard shoulder, give the operators in the control room a little wave... and watch out for ducklings.