The decision to scrap smart motorways has been welcomed by devastated relatives who lost loved ones in fatal crashes. Andrea Murgeanu said she had "goosebumps" when she heard the news, as she grieves the loss of her brother four years on.
A total of 14 planned schemes - including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction - will be removed from government road-building plans, given "financial pressures and in recognition of the lack of public trust". 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.
Ms Murgeanu moved to Mansfield from Romania in 2014, and two years later she asked her brother Alexandru Murgeanu to come and live with her and her boyfriend. But Alex died in a collision on a section of smart motorway on the M1 near junction 34 - where there is no hard shoulder - after apparently getting out of his van while it was on the live inside lane.
