You may have noticed, either in the media, or by the bollards that have started appearing on the M60/M62 about the major roadworks which are taking place on the M60 and M62 over the next three years (to 2017).

The Government’s Highways Agency is making the motorway from Junction 8 We are working to improve the M60 by making it a smart motorway between junction 8 of the M60 (Trafford Centre) round to and junction 20 of the M62 (Rochdale/Oldham).

A ‘Smart Motorway’ uses variable speed limits, traffic flow sensors, traffic information signs to help the traffic flow more smoothly. You might have seen this in the motorway around Birmingham (M42) where is has been in place for a few years.

On the M62 section (Simister to Rochdale/Oldham) the smart motorway will also include the conversion of the Hard Shoulder into a regular traffic lane to provide additional capacity. For the M60 parts of the motorway (Trafford Centre to Simister) the hard shoulder will remain for emergency use only.

Why is this happening and what will it cost?
The work is needed as this route is used by over 180,000 vehicles per day and suffers from heavy congestion and unpredictable journey times, especially during peak periods.

The estimated cost of this scheme is in the range of £190million and £267million and was approved by the Government in 2013.

Resurfacing
As part of the work the motorway is to be resurfaced by Autumn 2016. This is probably very good news for local residents in the long run, as the new surface will apparently be significantly ‘quieter’ than the current older surface.

While the Work is taking place
Some local residents are concerned about the impact the road works will have on the regular journeys that we make, and also on ‘rat run’ traffic coming through the area.

It may be that some extra signage or other measures can be put in place to help alleviate the the problems additional through traffic might cause.

How do I find out more information ?
More information on the Highways Agency website here.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have issues that you would like us to raise with the Highways Agency at any time, or if problems become apparent that need to be sorted out.

Tim

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