THE M23 will be closed this weekend as work to turn it into a “smart motorway” continues despite safety fears.

Highways England is completing work to remove the hard shoulder on the M23 between junctions 8 and 10 to create a permanent fourth lane.

However, the Government has suspended the creation of all new smart motorways after it was revealed technology may not be able to detect stationary vehicles quick enough to save lives.

The proposed works only allow for 12 emergency laybys over the 11.3 mile Sussex stretch, meaning vehicles could be stranded with nowhere to pull over in the event of a breakdown or accident.

Thirty eight people have been killed on smart motorways in Britain in the past five years.

In a letter to stakeholders this week Kier, which is carrying out the works for Highways England, continued to support the implementation of smart motorways.

They said: “Smart motorways reduce congestion and improve journey time reliability by making the hard shoulder available as a traffic lane.

“They also add much-needed capacity to the most congested parts of our network.”

The works will begin on Friday and continue for the next four weekends.

This weekend the northbound motorway will be closed from junction 8 at 9pm on Friday with a diversion in place.

The M23 will reopen at 5am on Monday.

A fully signed diversion route will be in place to aid motorists with their journeys.

At present it can take 17 minutes for CCTV operators to spot stricken vehicles and a further 17 until the driver and any passengers are rescued from live motorway lanes.

Transport Minister Grant Shapps said a review would take place before any further smart motorways are opened.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Shapps said: “All stretches that are currently being worked on will not be opened until we have the outcome of the stock take.

“’Last year, sadly, 1,700-plus people died on all of our roads. Motorways are the safest of those roads and the question is, are smart motorways less safe than the rest of the motorway network?

“For me, the answer is that we must make them at least as safe, if not safer, otherwise they can’t continue.”

The review, is expected to be published in coming weeks. Designing the £164 million M23 improvements started in 2016 and work began in 2018. It is expected to be completed by the spring.

The Highways Agency said the works were necessary to ease congestion between Sussex and the capital.

A spokesman said: The instruction from Grant Shapps was that current work on smart motorways would continue until the results of the stock take is announced by the Government.”

Crawley MP Henry Smith has raised concerns about the M23 works.

He previously told The Argus: “I have been concerned about this quote unquote ‘upgrade’ for a long time, especially the fact refuges were being placed too far away from each other.

“I have always been sceptical of removing the hard shoulder and the evidence suggests this has caused a big increase in accidents.”