Poor Signage M62 Jct 26 Eastbound

Poor signage informing drivers about the state of the hard shoulder at the end of the joining slip road (eastbound). There is no clear way of knowing if the hard shoulder is open or closed till approching the very end of the slip road. The original hard standing variable sign has not worked for well over a year and was originaly covered up by Highways England when it stopped working. The variable sign on the gantery rarely displays the the graphic of 4 lanes going into 3 like all the other smart motorway juctions do when the hard shoulder is not in use.