Motorway access management, consisting of traffic lights on motorway entry slip roads, is being installed initially at seven locations on the M62 and M1 in west and south Yorkshire to manage the flow of traffic joining motorways. The signals help traffic to filter safely and smoothly on to the motorway without causing unnecessary hold-ups to motorway traffic.

It was successfully tested on the M6 north of Birmingham, where it reduced congestion and improved journey times by up to 11 per cent.

"This is just one of the innovative techniques being introduced by the Highways Agency to deal with congestion and improve journey time reliability," said Roger Wantling, project manager for the Agency. Around peak times, congestion often occurs near junctions because vehicles are attempting to join the motorway while there is already heavy traffic on the motorway causing 'stop start' driving conditions.By introducing traffic lights on entry slip roads, we aim to smooth out the flow of traffic on the motorway."

The sites affected in west and south Yorkshire are the M62 Junction 25, M1 Junction 41, M1 Junction 40, M1 Junction 39, M1 Junction 35a, M1 Junction 35 and M1 Junction 33.

Work to install the new traffic signals begins on Wednesday August 30th and is expected to be completed by the end of October, when the lights will be introduced in a phased programme.