Wigan MP takes to social media to urge his Government to commit cash to build ‘much-needed’ link road
A Wigan MP has released a video on social media to urge his own Government cough up the cash to build a long-awaited road to alleviate congestion between his town and neighbouring Bolton.
In the clip posted on Facebook, Makerfield MP Josh Simons says he ‘will not rest’ until the highway linking the M6 and M61is built ‘in full’.
The road, which would link the M6 at Junction 25 at Orrell with the M61 at Junction 5 at Westhoughton, on the outskirts of Bolton, has been discussed since 1949.
The nine-mile highway would ease journeys between Leigh, Hindley, Wigan, Ince, and Pemberton.
Although parts of such a road have been built piecemeal, opposition to numerous planning applications for housing across the Wigan borough has been based on the shortcomings of the local highway infrastructure
He said that Wigan is the seventh most congested town in the UK.
Mr Simons, who is a parliamentary secretary for the cabinet office, was filmed driving along Westwood Way, saying: “Imagine a time, when it was four years after the Second World War. That was when this road was first promised to the people in my constituency.
“Every decade after that, it’s been cancelled, mothballed, split up into component parts and put back together because Westminster and Whitehall do not understand why we need this road.
“And the result of that is that Wigan is the seventh most congested borough in the country, and at the end of the day, we are not going to solve with Hindley and Hindley Green traffic or Winstanley and the centre of Ashton-in-Makerfield, where there are massive wagons that go through unless we get this link road built in full.
“I am going to make sure that this government commits to funding that road in the next year-round funding cycle. That is my pledge. will not rest until the M6-M61 link road gets built in full and traffic through all of our towns gets relief and runs through that road.”
Simons’ video comes as the Government allocated £15.5m for road maintenance in Greater Manchester, which the MP has welcomed.
Measures in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ budget include the doubling a cash to fix potholes by the end of the current Parliament.
Each local authority will be able to use its share of £7.3bn to identify the roads most in need of repair and deliver immediate improvements for communities and residents.
Meanwhile, Mr Simons has recently been critical of the number of temporary traffic lights for road works around Wigan which he said was making congestion worse.
He said he had been ‘tearing my hair out’ trying to drive around.
The MP, who was elected in the 2024 General Election, shared a letter he had sent to Wigan council leader Coun David Molyneux and chief executive Alison McKenzie-Folan.
Responding, Coun Molyneux said: “Unfortunately, several emergency works have been required across the borough due to urgent safety issues and essential repairs.
"These works cannot always be planned in advance and must be carried out immediately to protect the public and maintain the integrity of our highways network, which can make coordination challenging.”