Roads boss who oversaw ‘death trap’ smart motorways quits his £456,000 job at Highways England
- Jim O’Sullivan played down the risks posed by controversial smart motorways
- Mr O’Sullivan, a top paid civil servant, was awarded a £54,000 pay rise last year
- He caused fury last year when he rejected calls to pause the £1.6billion programme, claiming building additional refuge lay-bys did not improve safety
The roads boss who oversaw the building of ‘death trap’ smart motorways is to quit his £456,000-a-year job.
Jim O’Sullivan’s exit from Highways England (HE) was announced just three hours after the quango confirmed a series of safety improvements to the controversial routes.
The chief executive’s astonishing £456,727 salary – three times that of the Prime Minister – makes him one of Britain’s top-paid civil servants.
Mr O’Sullivan has played down the risks posed by smart motorways – where the hard shoulder is removed to ease congestion – despite evidence they have caused dozens of deaths.
He caused fury last year when he rejected calls to pause the £1.6billion programme, claiming building additional refuge lay-bys did not improve safety.
Jim O’Sullivan, the Chief Executive of Highways England, was announced just three hours after the quango confirmed a series of safety improvements to the controversial routes (file photo)
Despite initially blaming most crashes on reckless drivers, he later admitted deaths had occurred because of delays to radar technology that can spot vehicles stranded in ‘live’ lanes.
He was awarded an inflation-busting £54,000 pay rise last year, including a performance-related bonus of £51,727 and a £30,000 pension contribution.
Boris Johnson is paid £150,000 a year. The Mail has learned there were a series of tensions between MPs and Mr O’Sullivan over the failure to address problems with smart motorways.
However, it is understood he was not forced to quit.
The safety improvement plan includes installing radar on every existing stretch of smart motorway by March 2023.
Emergency refuges will also be spaced no more than a mile apart.
As part of a £27billion programme confirmed yesterday, transport bosses also announced plans for seven new stretches of smart motorway including parts of the M1 and M25.
Mr O’Sullivan, who has been in the post since 2015, is to step down early next year.
New plans for seven new stretches of smart motorway including parts of the M1 and M25
Although there is no suggestion he resigned over smart motorways, the timing of the announcement has raised eyebrows among MPs.
Police leaders described smart motorways as ‘death traps’ earlier this year after it emerged there had been 38 deaths in the past five years.
The programme was halted in January and a subsequent safety review led to a commitment to increase the number of refuges.
In a statement yesterday, Mr O’Sullivan said HE had ‘achieved great things’. He added: ‘I leave Highways England well placed to deliver the second roads period and to prepare for the third. That makes it a good time to step down.’