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.
The 29-year-old moved to Mansfield from Romania in 2014, and two years later she asked her brother Alexandru Murgeanu to come and live with her and her boyfriend. But Alex died in a collision on a section of smart motorway on the M1 - where there is no hard shoulder - after apparently getting out of his van while it was on the live inside lane.
The tragedy made Ms Murgeanu leave the UK and has "haunted" her ever since. "People say it gets better with time but it does not", she said.
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"You can forgive but you cannot forget. Because Alexandru was living away, my mum told me that she likes to think that he is still alive in the UK, working there."
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.
"And I tell them who he is and what went on. It is horrible."
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. "We all have to live with it for the rest of our lives", she added.
Her brother is buried in his natal village, Zorleni, in Romania. It is a place that Ms Murgeanu goes to every weekend, paying her respects to her late brother.
The news that smart motorways will be scrapped, however, seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel. "I am very emotional. It is giving me goosebumps", she said.
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.
Ms Murgeanu thinks this decision "will save lives". She added: "I am happy for all the other Romanians who are still in the UK.
"I am happy that no more lives will be claimed on new smart motorways. Nothing will bring Alexandru back - but I do not want other people to go through what I have been through."
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.
"No holiday or celebration has been the same since Alexandru's death. It has hanuted us really, and I will never be able to go back to the UK because I just cannot get it out of my mind."
Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason also died in the same incident, welcomed the move but said she will not stop campaigning until "there is a hard shoulder on every motorway". The 47-year-old gave up her career as an engineer and dedicated most of her time to the Smart Motorways Kill campaign.
"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.
"So they are the more immediate danger and they should have been dealt with it first. It is a small win - it is only half of the battle."
Now a full-time campaigner, Mrs Mercer, of Rotherham, added: "Nothing will bring Jason and other people back but we are going to get laws changed in their names.
"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.
"I am on far more medication now than when I was when Jason was alive. I have a nervous breakdown every six months.
"But then you get days like this when we are halfway there now. So we cannot stop now."
The news found her, similarly to Ms Murgeanu's, in an emotional state. She continued: "It was emotional to see we have got somewhere. But it is not the full battle."
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in his full statement published on the government website: "All drivers deserve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country.
"That’s why last year I pledged to stop the building of all new smart motorways, and today I’m making good on that promise. Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, to take their children to school and go about their daily lives and I want them to be able to do so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe."
Transport Secretary Mark Harper added: "We want the public to know that this government is listening to their concerns. Today’s announcement means no new smart motorways will be built, recognising the lack of public confidence felt by drivers and the cost pressures due to inflation."
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