Biggest plan in 50 years for North West roads

Highways England has today announced plans to invest £1.5Bn over the next five years in the North West’s roads, including the creation of 80 miles of smart motorway.

Highways England is the wholly government-owned company responsible for modernising, maintain and operating England’s motorways and major A roads. The five-year plan was set out at a regional launch event held at the Macdonald hotel in Manchester earlier today.

In addition to the upgrades currently taking place on the M62 and M60, work will commence on seven new smart motorway projects by 2020 that will cut congestion and shorten journey time for drivers.

Smart motorways include all sections of the motorway network that utilise technology to control congestion, add extra capacity and improve journey time reliability. This included controlling speeds to improve traffic flow through the use of variable mandatory speeds and alerting drivers to information by use of overhead signs. The main feature of smart motorways is its ability to use technology to open hard shoulder lanes at peak demand times or permanently convert the hard shoulder to a traffic lane, with emergency refuge areas provided.

A link up will be created between two of the schemes on the M62 and existing projects that will cover 60 miles between the North West and Yorkshire, forming the largest single stretch of smart motorway in the country.

The North West has other major schemes planned that include bypasses on the A556, A585 and A57, junction upgrades undertaken on the M6 and new motorway junctions on the M55 and M56.

Other work to be carried out during 2015/16 will see the resurfacing of 130 miles of motorway lanes and major A roads, the installation of 40 miles of safety barriers and the upgrade of 2,900 lighting columns.

Where possible, as much of this work will be carried out at night when roads are less busy in order to keep more lanes open during peak driving times.

North West Regional Director at Highways England, Alan Shepherd, said: “We’re investing £1.5 billion on improvements to the North West’s motorways and major A roads over the next five years, creating the biggest increase in capacity on the road network for 50 years.

“That includes nearly 80 miles of smart motorway where the hard shoulder will be converted into extra lanes and variable speed limits will be used to keep traffic moving. New bypasses and new and improved motorway junctions will also all help to tackle congestion, benefitting both businesses and local residents.

“It’s vital that we continue to improve the existing road network as well, which is why we’re investing £90 million this year alone on resurfacing, safety barriers and other maintenance projects.

“The North West’s motorways and dual carriageways form the backbone for the region’s economy and this huge investment will ensure they remain healthy for many years to come.”

July 2014 saw work on the North West’s first smart motorway commence on the 17-mile stretch of the M60 and M62 in Greater Manchester. The £202M scheme is due for completion in autumn 2017.

At a cost of £192M, construction of a new A556 link road between the M56 near Bowdeon and the M6 near Knutsford began last year and is expected to be finished by winter 2016/17.

Autumn of this year will see the start of a new £233M smart motorway along an 18-mile section of the M6 between junction 16 at Crewe and junction 19 at Knutsford.

Other major projects scheduled to begin construction before 2020 include new bypasses on the A585, to get rid of a major bottleneck on the main road to Fleetwood, and on the A57, to combat congestion near Mottram and Hollingworth in Tameside.

Access to the Port of Liverpool will be improved along the A5036, new motorway junctions will be created on the M56 (junction 11a) and M55 (junction 2) near Preston, and major upgrades will be carried out to the M6’s junction 19 near Knutsford and junction 22 near Newton-le-Willows.

Highways England’s Major Projects Director for the North, Jeremy Bloom, said: “These schemes will bring significant long-term benefits to drivers on motorways and major A roads in the North West, as well as to the economy as a whole.

“The construction work will, of course, bring some disruption in the short term but we will ensure that we keep this to a minimum to keep traffic flowing.

“When the schemes are completed, road users will experience safer, more reliable and less congested journeys.”

The M62 will see two new smart motorway schemes run on a nine-mile section between junctions 10 at the M6 interchange near Warrington and junction 12 at the M60 interchange near Eccles, and on a 19-mile section between junction 20 at the A627 (M) interchange near Rochdale and junction 25 near Brighouse, West Yorkshire.

A seven-mile stretch of smart motorway will be created on the opposite side of the M60 to the current scheme, between junction 24 at the M67 interchange near Denton and junction 4 at the M56 interchange near Cheadle.

A ten-mile section of the M6 between junction 21a at the M62 interchange near Warrington and junction 26 at the M58 interchange near Skelmersdale will also become a smart motorway, along with a four-mile section of the M56 between junctions 6 and 8 near Manchester Airport.

Finally, a six-mile stretch of smart motorway will be created on the M53 between junction 5 at Queensferry and junction 11 at the M56 interchange near Ellesmere Port to ease congestion.

For more information on Highways England’s five-year plan please go to http://ift.tt/1GMb7iU

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