Vision of motorways of the future - with cars hooked up to smart motorways and drones flying overhead to monitor accident blackspots

Highways England is looking to develop a smart motorway network that could connect to vehicles of the future
Highways England
Ella Wills13 December 2017

Cars driving on 'roads of the future' could be programmed to automatically report potholes, while drones may be used to fly overhead and monitor traffic blackspots, says the firm responsible for England's motorways.

Highways England said that intelligent roads will play an increasingly major role in keeping the country connected.

The company released its vision of motorways of the future in a report on Wednesday.

The 'Strategic Road Network Initial Report' will be used to inform the Government's next road investment strategy, which begins in 2020.

The report said technology will play an increasingly major role in keeping the country moving and connected
PA Wire/PA Images

Cars of the future could be wired to spot potholes on motorways and automatically transmit the information to Highways England to schedule repairs.

The Government-funded company said an intelligent road network coupled with connected vehicles would improve how efficiently roads are maintained, while improving safety.

Drones could be used to inspect roads while also providing first assessment of incidents , the company said.

The report outlined eight goals for the next road period, which runs from 2020 to 2025, including building a 'smart motorway' and 'preparing for the future'.

Cars on motorways of the future could be programmed to report potholes to nearly road maintainers
PA Wire/PA Images

"Smart motorways will provide critical capacity to a crowded network," the report said.

"We will develop the smart motorway and expressway infrastructure to engage with connected vehicles, and communicate in a more useful way with those driving on our roads.

"We are currently trialling drones to inspect structures, but such technology could also be used to improve response times, for example for a first assessment of incidents or for traffic monitoring."

Another technology in development uses embedded sensors to monitor motorways. This would offer a live feed giving data on incidents such as concrete degredation, or vibrations during construction works.

The report added that connected vehicles could report potholes by uploading data on the location and severity of the hole, which is shared with local road maintainers or used to alert nearby connected vehicles so they may avoid the area,

Highways England Chief Executive, Jim O’Sullivan, said: “We are delivering a record £15 billion of Government investment to give people safe, efficient and reliable journeys, and provide businesses with the links they need to prosper and grow.

“Because people’s journeys are important to us we are setting out our high level aspirations which will help ensure the network continues to drive economic growth, jobs and prosperity, and keeps traffic moving today, and into the future."

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “This Government is making people’s journeys better, faster and safer to give people better access to jobs, schools and their community.

“We are planning to spend more than ever before to upgrade England’s motorways and major A roads from 2020 through to 2025.”

The Department for Transport launched a consultation into the report on Wednesday that will run until Wednesday, February 7 2018.

Results will be used by the department to help develop the next Road Investment Strategy due in 2019, which will outline details on specific road projects.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in