Plans are revealed to widen stretch of M60
ASTRETCH of Greater Manchester motorway could be widened to five lanes - with no hard shoulder - the Observer can reveal.
Both sides of the M60 would be extended, between junction 17 for Whitefield and junction 18 for Simister Island, as part of new plans to improve traffic flow.
Residents living close to the motorway say they have received letters from Highways England informing them of the proposals.
Should the scheme go ahead, it would become the first five lane stretch of motorway between junctions in the region.
The M60 currently has five active lanes of traffic at the slip roads of junction 18, but this would be extended back to junction 17 on both carriageways.
Highways England say the reason for the widening would be to ease congestion around junction 18, which joins the M60 to the M66.
A public consultation on the plans is expected to be launched later this year.
Should the scheme be approved for funding by the government then work could start by 2025.
The stretch, which is just over a mile long, has been classed as smart motorway since August 2018 when work to transform part of the M60 was completed.
Part of the motorway, between junction 8 for Sale and junction 20 of the M62 for Rochdale, was upgraded as part of a project aimed at reducing congestion.
But smart motorways have come under fire as they do not have a hard shoulder for motorists who break down in traffic or need to pull over safely.
Last week, a BBC investigation revealed that nearmisses on a stretch of smart motorway near London had increased 20-fold since the hard shoulder was removed.
The figures showed that on one of two converted sections of the M25, there were 1,485 near misses since the scheme was introduced in 2014.
The investigation also found that 38 people have been killed on smart motorways in the last five years.
However, in the five years before it was a smart motorway, there were 72.
Just last week it was reported a grieving widow had begun a legal fight to stop any more smart motorways being brought in.
Claire Mercer is taking a legal challenge to the High Court after her husband
Jason was killed when he was hit by a lorry on a smart section of the M1.
A spokesperson for Highways England said: “We are currently developing proposals to improve the flow of traffic through junction 18 of the M60, where the motorway connects to both the M62 and M66.
“We will be holding a consultation and public events later in the year where drivers and local residents will be able to have their say on the proposals.”