Overnight closures on M62
OVERNIGHT closures are taking place on the M62 and M60 next week as the latest phase of the £202m ‘smart motorway’ work is carried out.
The M62 will be closed westbound between junctions 20 for Rochdale and 18 Simister Island and clockwise on the M60 between junctions eight for Carrington and 12 for the M602 between 10pm and 6am from Tuesday to Friday.
A spokesman for Highways England said: “The closures are for major construction work as part of the Manchester smart motorway scheme, including upgrading the overhead gantries with new electronic signs and resurfacing work.”
Contractors are working to convert a 17-mile stretch of the M62 and M60 between Sale and Rochdale into a smart motorway, which will see the hard shoulder used for traffic during peak times.
Highways bosses say, once complete, it will increase capacity on this section of the motorway by a third, making journeys quicker and more reliable.
But as the Observer reported last month the future of a smart motorway upgrade from Manchester to Yorkshire has been thrown into doubt again.
Fears have been raised the £283m project to connect the smart motorways from Rochdale to Brighouse may be one of 16 major upgrades to some of England’s busiest roads to been put on hold by the National Audit Office because they are not ‘value for money’.