The humble cat eye road studs, invented in 1934, is to undergo a major high-tech overhaul. First introduced on Britain's roads by Jim Callaghan in 1947 when he was a junior transport minister, the cat eye road studs is to become an "intelligent road stud" that will do a lot more than just help motorists follow the road at night.
The Highways Agency is looking at new, sophisticated designs that will provide its control centres and drivers with far more information than in the past. Tests have been done at Saltash in Cornwall, while Transport Scotland has installed the cat eye road studs on a 1.8-mile stretch of the M8 near Glasgow.
The cat eye road studs get brighter as visibility worsens and can be made to flash at the flick of a switch. They can alert drivers to ice by turning blue when the road temperature drops below freezing and warn them of delays ahead by being switched to red or flashing amber.
The test cat eye road studs on the M8 are connected to the national grid, but trials of solar cat eye road studs, which are not as bright, have been taking place in other areas, including Peterborough and the Vale of Glamorgan.
This year the Highways Agency will also examine how the cat eye road studs can be used to send information about traffic flow back to a control centre. One possible use could be to monitor cars as part of a "pay as you drive" road pricing scheme, which the Government is backing to help relieve road congestion.
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