Gatwick Motorway upgrade

The M23 past Gatwick Airport is to be upgraded to 'smart motorway' status, including the stretch from the M25 junction.  But do not get too excited.  Work is not expected to start until 2017/18.
 
Smart motorways use pioneering technology to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow and deliver additional road capacity more quickly and at less cost than traditional road widening schemes.
 
Improvements on the 10-mile stretch of motorway will increase overall capacity on this critical stretch by 25-30%, helping provide much needed benefit to the whole region, support of economic growth and future proof it for a second runway at Gatwick.
 
The M23 enhancements will see the hard shoulder converted to a traffic lane and new signing and technology informing drivers of the variable speed limit at that point of the road, responding to traffic conditions and providing live information about incidents up ahead.
 
The first smart motorway was introduced on part of the M42 around Birmingham in 2006.  Since then, accidents on that route have more than halved, journey time reliability improved by over 20% and emissions fallen by around 10% due to traffic flowing more smoothly.

Currently over 50% of Gatwick’s passengers arrive at the airport via the M23, including those by coach.  www.gatwickairport.com

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