Drivers face of work at busy junction

AROUNDABOUT above one of the busiest motorway junctions in Greater Manchester will see lane closures during 20 weeks of works.

Restrictions at the three-lane roundabout at the exit and entrance to Junction 17 of the M60 at Whitefield on the A56 Bury New Road will be imposed from Friday.

The junction is used by tens of thousands of vehicles every day, with traffic passing over it between Bury and Manchester and using it to access motorway routes to Yorkshire, south Manchester, Cheshire, and beyond.

Local residents have been sent letters by the Highways Agency warning them of the work and electronic signs on Bury New Road have alerted drivers with messages.

Work will be carried out to improve safety on the bridge above the junction which is near to the Tesco superstore at Prestwich. This will involve upgrading four existing bridge barriers by increasing their height to 6ft, plus installing ‘anti-access’ measures to prevent unauthorised pedestrian access to the bridge.

To allow the works, there will be controlled closures on the roundabout managed by GMP.

It will mean one lane on the roundabout is closed during the day and two at night. In a letter to residents, Highways England concede the works may cause ‘some disruption and noise.’

One lane will be closed on the roundabout during the day and two lanes will be closed overnight ●●The roundabout over Junction 17 of the M60 motorway will see lane closures for 20 weeks while safety work is carried out on the bridge from 8pm until 5am, Monday to Thursday, and from 8pm until 6am on Friday and Saturday nights while work takes place to install the new barriers. The scheme is due to be completed by the end of November.

John Lyssejko, North West Service Delivery Team Leader at Highways England, said: “We are advising drivers to allow extra time for their journeys or to consider using alternative routes while work is being carried out to improve the junction.”