A £490m project to give drivers a real-time ‘information superhighway’ on England's motorways was announced this week by Roads Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman.

The 10-year ‘national roads telecommunications services’ project will upgrade existing systems, providing a national digital system linking more than 14,000 message signs, emergency telephones, CCTV cameras and traffic monitoring systems to the Highway Agency's network of traffic control centres.

The upgrade will also enable the agency to develop new initiatives, such as access to real-time CCTV pictures of traffic conditions via the internet.

The first phase of the project will include work to install cables on parts of the M4, M3 and M62 and replace and upgrade electronics in more than 150 roadside transmission stations.