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£208 million motorway project to start in Greater Manchester

The next stage of a £208 million project to cut congestion and improve journey times on parts of the M60 and M62 in Greater Manchester will begin on Monday 17 November.

The Highways Agency’s smart motorway scheme affects a 17-mile stretch of the network between junction 8 of the M60 near Sale and junction 20 of the M62 near Rochdale.

When the work is completed, around 200 new electronic signs will warn drivers of changes in the mandatory speed limit, lane closures and incidents ahead.

The hard shoulder will also be permanently converted to an extra lane between junctions 18 and 20 of the M62.

A temporary 50mph speed limit, enforced by average speed cameras, is currently in place along the smart motorway route for the safety of road workers and motorists.

The Greater Manchester smart motorway scheme is due to be completed by autumn 2017.

More than 500 people have been working on the motorway project, carrying out site surveys and ground investigation work as well as installing nearly 130 temporary CCTV cameras to monitor traffic and respond quickly to incidents.

Project manager at the Highways Agency, Stephen Greenhalgh said: “We’re now at a stage where we can begin the main construction work and so need to introduce narrow lanes on a five-mile stretch of the M62 for the safety of our workforce.

“We’d like to thank road users for their patience so far and would encourage them to continue to drive carefully through the roadworks.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .