Two multi-million pound North West motorway schemes delayed by a year

Two major motorway schemes close to Manchester have been delayed by a year in a bid to reduce traffic congestion.

A £90m scheme to upgrade the M56 near Manchester Airport and a £150m project on the M6 between Warrington and Wigan have been put back 12 months.

Manchester has been badly affected by traffic congestion over the last year.

Major roadworks on the M60 and in the Regent Road area of the city have contributed to the delays and traffic jams.

The M6 in Cheshire has also had roadworks and speed restrictions for the last 18 months.

Highways England has announced that the two schemes to upgrade the motorway is needed to reduce congestion.

The two schemes were due to start this spring but have now been delayed.

Work will still begin as planned this autumn to upgrade another stretch of the M62 between Rochdale and West Yorkshire.

Highways England also announced plans to improve how its smart motorway projects are carried out , which include provisions to reduce the need for overnight diversions and increasing temporary speed limits from 50mph to 60mph.

Mike Bull, Highways England’s smart motorways programme manager for the North West, said: “We’ve listened to what people have been telling us about roadworks and have decided to reschedule two major schemes, benefitting drivers who use our roads to get to work and businesses who deliver goods across the region.

“We’re committed to the upgrades; we are simply changing the timetable for projects on the M56 and M6.

“We’re also reviewing how we carry out major upgrades so that we can minimise disruption as much as possible and maintain connections for drivers using the road network.”