'Cocktail of chaos' feared as smart motorways staff prepare to strike over Christmas

Motorists driving to visit their loved ones this Christmas could be hit with 60mph speed limits on the roads because National Highways staff are planning to strike, The Telegraph can reveal.

A strike by railway workers means the roads are expected to be thronged with families, but vital staff responsible for monitoring smart motorways could walk out at the same time, leading to fears of a "cocktail of chaos".

National Highways control room operators are represented by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which last week announced a month of strikes after more than 100,000 civil servants voted in favour of industrial action.

Insiders said the quango may set 60mph speed limits on smart motorways in certain regions if they expect big staffing gaps, which could lead to journey delays.

On Saturday the families of victims killed on the roads, and MPs called on roads chiefs to temporarily reinstate the hard shoulder instead, to prevent smart motorway dangers being "magnified" by the strike action.

But sources said no roads will be closed and the first lane on all-lane-running motorways, where the hard shoulder has been converted to a live lane, will continue to operate.

While strike dates are yet to be announced, the union said action would begin in mid-December, with some staff striking for an entire month.

Road bosses are also concerned there will be gridlocked traffic and staffing gaps at checkpoints at the Port of Dover and beyond because Border Force workers are also represented by PCS.

'Putting lives at risk'

One whistleblower, who has worked at National Highways for almost a decade, said: "Even non-union control centre staff are supportive of strike action. We had a discussion and the general consensus was it would be poor form to come in if colleagues were striking. The younger new starters were told this too."

Earlier this month, the Telegraph revealed roads bosses are struggling with chronic staff shortages which MPs claimed were "putting lives at risk".

National Highways, formerly Highways England and an arms-length government body, has also been plagued by tech failures, with one last month spanning 48 hours.

It insists smart motorways are "as safe or safer than" conventional motorways. However, all-lane-running motorways have come under scrutiny following a spate of deaths on the roads.

National Highways control room operators are essential to keeping motorists safe on the roads. They are responsible for finding accidents on CCTV, dispatching traffic officers, and setting lane closures and speed limits to protect vulnerable customers. Until then, vehicles are left marooned in high-speed traffic.

Smart motorways also use an expensive radar system designed to alert control room staff within 20 seconds to any stopped cars on all-lane running roads.

But this relies on staff responding to alerts immediately, finding the incident and sending help.

Fears system could fall apart

MP Greg Smith, who sits on the Transport Select Committee, said: “If staff walk out, there is no doubt lives will be put at risk, especially at a time when there’ll be more cars on the road because rail workers are on strike.

“I see no alternative than to reinstate the hard shoulder if strike action takes place. Without a human to respond to the tech, the whole system falls apart.”

Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason was killed on a smart motorway, said: "Drivers are already in horrendous danger on these roads, but with staff walking out this will be magnified to a potentially catastrophic level.

"I won't criticise the staff for striking, but surely by law National Highways has to turn the hard shoulder back on to prevent a cocktail of chaos."

Civil servants across 126 departments voted to strike over a 10 per cent pay increase, pensions and job security. The Government says their demands would cost £2.4 billion.

The whistleblower said "more and more jobs are being piled on control room staff" because of an exodus of workers.
"It's horrendous how we are being treated," they said.

While the Government has paused the roll-out of any new all-lane-running motorways because of safety fears, there are still hundreds of miles of smartoads across the country.

Andrew Page-Dove, operational control director at National Highways, said the firm was “currently reviewing the impact any strike action may have and will put well-rehearsed resilience plans in place to ensure the continued safe operation of our network. These can include managing signs and signals from other regional operations centres and lifting some roadworks".

He added: “Millions of people rely on our roads and there is a possibility that they may be busier than usual on strike days so we’d urge drivers to take extra care.”