‘Upgrades not linked to any single incident’
HIGHWAYS England has said a raft of works and improvements to a notorious stretch of motorway near Runcorn in the last year were not motivated by any ‘single incident’.
A Freedom Of Information request by the Weekly News revealed that the agency completed upgrades on the route focused between junction 11 at Preston Brook and 15 at the Stoak Interchange during the 2015-16 financial year.
Theses included the installation and revamp of CCTV at junction 11, the installation of a variable message sign at Stoak Interchange, and a boundary fence between junctions 12-14 eastbound was replaced as it had ‘reached the end of its serviceable life’.
Other works slightly further afield included resurfacing of the M56 to M6 slip road at junction 9. The M56 stretch between Runcorn and Chester has gained a notorious reputation in recent years following fatal crashes and major industrial incidents including a flaming tanker and a chemical leak.
The Weekly News also exclusively revealed in September that the route had been left out of the Government’s ‘smart motorway’ plans for Cheshire during this Parliament but had agreed to spend millions on upgrading the M56 J6-8 near Manchester which had no fatal crashes and barely any serious collisions during the same period when Runcorn-Chester had four deaths plus casualties suffering serious injuries.
Smart motorways involve installing overhead information signs that allow for varying speed limits and providing up-todate traffic information.
They also allow for the hard shoulder to be opened to ease traffic flows.
Asked whether the recent upgrades were due to the RuncornChester stretch’s problems in recent years, a Highways England spokesman said: “The information I have seen shows that the work was for the financial year 2015-16.
“I can’t see anything in there which has been done in response to a specific incident.
He added: “The bottom line is we constantly review the whole of our network to identify opportunities to provide cost-effective ways of improving drivers’ journeys and safety.”