Downing Street has confirmed that plans for new smart motorways have been axed due to safety concerns.
Plans for fourteen new smart motorways are being axed after concerns have been raised over safety and costs.
The M1 through Milton Keynes is currently one of the stretches being converted into an All-Lane Running (ALR) motorway. Work started in 2018 and has just been completed, with an estimate cost of around £373m.
Smart motorways involve the conversion of the hard shoulder into a live lane, with various methods to manage traffic flow.
There have been longstanding fears following fatal accidents which involve vehicles being forced to stop in live lanes due to there being no hard shoulder.
Plans for 11 new smart motorways had already been paused with 3 still earmarked for construction.
Initial estimations suggest constructing future smart motorway schemes would have cost more than £1 billion and cancelling these schemes will allow more time to track public confidence in smart motorways over a longer period, a Government spokesperson has said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: "All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country. That’s why last year I pledged to stop the building of all new smart motorways, and today I’m making good on that promise.
"Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, to take their children to school and go about their daily lives and I want them to be able to do so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe."
Current work on the M56 J6-8 and M6 J21a-26 are due to still be completed.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: "Labour have long demanded action on smart motorways and it's a tragedy that so many lives have been lost waiting for Conservative ministers to act.
"We know smart motorways, coupled with inadequate safety systems, are not fit for purpose and are putting lives at risk.
"That's why ministers should reinstate the hard shoulder on existing smart motorways and carry out remedial and safety work while a comprehensive review of the inadequate safety systems and evidence takes place," she said.
RAC road safety spokesman Simon Williams said: "This is a watershed announcement and a victory for everyone who has campaigned against these motorways that, by their design, put drivers in more danger should they be unlucky enough to break down on one.
"Our research shows all lane-running smart motorways are deeply unpopular with drivers so we're pleased the government has finally arrived at the same conclusion. It's now vitally important that plans are made for making the hundreds of existing miles of these types of motorway as safe as possible.
"The possibility of converting all lane running stretches to the 'dynamic hard shoulder' configuration, where the hard shoulder is open and closed depending on the levels of traffic, could be one option the government considers."
