Keeping the Show on the Road

Documentary series following the army of workers who keep the traffic flowing on one of the busiest stretches of road in Britain - where the country's longest motorway, the M6, meets four other major routes.

In January 2003, on a day known as White Friday, an enormous snowstorm brought the M11 motorway to a standstill and left drivers stranded in their cars for 18 hours. In the media storm that followed, the Highways Agency (HA) was heavily criticised for failing to prepare for snow and ice. Since that day, the HA have invested in a dedicated team of national traffic officers and motorway maintenance workers ready to react to weather events and deal with incidents. This episode follows the teams working on the M6 and surrounding motorways as they face one of the stormiest winters on record.

On average, the HA spend £20 million a year on winter operations in England to prevent major roads grinding to a halt. But despite planning for snow and ice, instead they find themselves facing the stormiest winter in over 40 years and the wettest winter in 250 years. It's all hands on deck and with the Highways Agency's reputation at stake, desperate times require desperate measures.

Away from the storm, the motorway maintenance incident support unit are on their winter litter-picking patrols, adding to the 180,000 bags of rubbish collected on Britain's motorways. And underneath the Spaghetti Junction, a hidden workforce tries to restore the iconic structure to its former glory.