Overnight closures on M60 during upgrade

THE Highways Agency has announced a series of overnight closures on Manchester’s M60 orbital motorway as part of its £200m upgrade project.

As part of the ‘smart motorway’ scheme, which has already been implemented on some sections of the M62 and M6, narrow lanes are being introduced and the closure of the carriageway is needed for this to happen.

Construction work on the scheme began in July last year, and contractors have already installed narrow lanes on the section of the route between junctions 18 and 20 of the M62.

They will now introduce narrow lanes and a steel safety barrier on the stretch between junction 15 at the interchange with the M61 for Bolton and junction 8 of the M60 near Sale, using a series of overnight closures over the next three weeks, beginning January 12.

Sections of the motorway will be closed between 10pm and 5am while the narrow lanes are installed, starting with the anticlockwise side of the M60 between junction 16 for Swinton and junction 14 for St Helens from 10pm on Monday 12 January. Road users will be able to follow diversions.

Stephen Greenhalgh, project manager at the Highways Agency, said: “We’re doing all we can to keep the impact of the smart motorway work to a minimum and we’ll be able to keep all of the lanes open by introducing narrow lanes from next week.

“The closures will be taking place overnight when far fewer people will be using the motorway, so that drivers can continue to travel on the M60 as normal during the day.

“We’re now six months into the smart motorway project and work on the scheme is progressing well. When the project is completed, we will be able to use the latest technology to tackle congestion and bring an end to the stop-start conditions many of us have experienced in the past.”

A 50mph speed limit is already in place on the 17-mile smart motorway route.