They are still heartbroken
Devastated families who lost their loved ones in fatal crashes say the move to scrap new smart motorways is a "small win" but only "half the battle. The decision to scrap the building of all new motorways has given Andreea Murgeanu "goosebumps" - as she is still grieving the loss of her beloved brother four years on.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live in her native language, Ms Murgeanu has told of her four years without her brother - and her two girls who only know their uncle from photos. The mum of two, who works as a confectioner in Vaslui, Romania, added: "They sometimes ask me - who is that man in these photos.She said that the tragedy which claimed the life of her 22-year-old brother as well as another man on the M1 near J34 on the morning of June 7 has "haunted" her life ever since.
It comes as some 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.
The update has come at a time when Ms Murgeanu is celebrating the Orthodox Easter back home, alongside her family. "Our Easter is not really a celebration because we remember those who passed away. "It does not go far enough", she told Nottinghamshire Live. "It is only the new smart motorways - it is the existing smart motorways that are killing us.
"Until we have got a hard shoulder on every single motorway - that is when I will stop the campaign. I am genuinely exhausted and it does affect my mental and physical health.
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