New lanes open on M6 Wigan to Warrington M-way upgrade

On Saturday (October 12), National Highways lifted the traffic cones and barriers along the southbound M6 between junction 22 at Winwick and junction 21a at Croft.

And, by the end of this week, there’ll be an extra lane open to drivers in both the northbound and southbound carriageways along all 10 miles of the M6 between the Croft interchange with the M62 and junction 26 at Orrell interchange with the M58.

This latest programme of work marks the beginning of the end of the £260m Smart motorway upgrade which started in March 2021.

For those who have already used the newly-upgraded Warrington to Wigan section and have discovered that the gantry signs are telling them still to stick to 50mph or less, these limits will continue, along with other interim safety measures in place, until work to calibrate technology, including stopped vehicle detection, is completed.

The upgrade is then expected to fully open, with the 70mph maximum national speed limit restored, by next spring.

Alongside adding an extra lane in both the northbound and southbound carriageways the upgrade has involved providing extra technology and safety enhancements, including stopped vehicle detection. Stopped vehicle detection uses radar technology to alert National Highways’ control centre operators who can then close lanes with a Red X signal, display speed limits and deploy traffic officers. 

The project was extended in December to add an extra 12 emergency areas – with 22 provided in all – as well as resurfacing all lanes along most of the upgraded route.

This followed the then Government’s scrapping of further Smart motorways amid safety concerns, while those already under construction would continue so long as many more emergency areas were installed.

Temporary additional CCTV from the roadworks and a free recovery service will remain in place alongside the new permanent systems during the technology commissioning period.

Drivers will also be able to use any of the 22 new emergency areas if they need to stop in an emergency.

National Highways launched a Driving on Motorways hub in 2022 – providing information about the main features of smart motorways, and advice and guidance on safer driving and what to do in an emergency:  https://nationalhighways.co.uk/road-safety/driving-on-motorways/

Following Saturday's opening, all the other the newly-upgraded stretches of motorway were or will be opened to drivers - after further 9pm to 6am overnight carriageway closures to remove cones and barriers – in the following sequence:

Yesterday (Sunday October 13) northbound M6 between junction 23 at Haydock and junction 26 at Orrell

Today (Monday October 14) northbound M6 from junction 22 at Winwick to junction 23 at Haydock

Tomorrow (Tuesday October 15) southbound M6 between junction 23 at Haydock to junction 22 at Winwick

Wednesday (October 16 – southbound M6 from junction 26 at Orrell to junction 23 at Haydock

Thursday (October 17) – northbound 21a at Croft to junction 22 at Winwick

Further details on the M6 upgrade are available at: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/north-west/m6-junction-21a-to-26-motorway-upgrade/