UPDATED 22.40: THE Northbound carriageway of the M6 Thelwall Viaduct has finally been re-opened following emergency repairs which caused traffic chaos across Warrington.
Traffic was brought to a standstill on the northbound carriageway of the M6 at the Lymm interchange shortly before 1pm earlier today following multiple reports to police of an object in the carriageway on the M6 Northbound, Thelwall Viaduct.
Officers attended the scene and it was found that a number of grid plates had become loose and lifted out onto the road. Highways engineers attended to carry out emergency roadworks, which rusluted in full lane closures.
The incident resulted in severe traffic in the area, with queues back to junction 19 on the M6 and junction 10 on the M56.
The closure had a major impact on roads in and around Warrington area, in particular all rounds leading into Warrington from the South.
At one stage traffic was bumper to bumper on all routes into Warrington from the South, with knock on traffic congestion throughout the south of the borough, including, Stretton, Lymm, Stockton Heath, Appleton, Grappenhall and Latchford right up to Bridge Foot in Warrington town centre.
Current view of Traffic M6 Both directions, North on Left, and M56 West above. #GivingM25aRunForitsMoney. pic.twitter.com/yEC16tQN1l
— Cheshire HGV Cops (@Cheshire_CVU) August 17, 2017
The current situation on the Thelwall viaduct (north bound). A team is currently addressing the issue. pic.twitter.com/niKZVQHIpI
— NW Motorway Police (@NWmwaypolice) August 17, 2017
Congestion affecting many parts of the surrounding routes around jct 19 to 21 of the #M6. Please be patient if you are stuck in a queue. pic.twitter.com/qoVwfOs0QB
— Cheshire Police (@cheshirepolice) August 17, 2017
3 Comments
Blimey so that’s what caused the total gridlock everywhere not only on the motorways but all the local roads too. How did some grid plates suddenly come loose ?
Nearly 5 hours to get home on a journey which normally should have taken about 1 hr 30 mins max today was frustrating to say the least !!
Ahh well at least it was just a couple of loose grid plates and not a serious accident as sadly has been the case quite a few times over the past few weeks.
Must rank as some of the worst traffic congestion I have ever witnessed – and to think it was at a time when local roads are noramlly quite.
Imagine what it will be like when they build all these new homes on the green belt – all with at least two more cars!
This incident confirms what many have been saying for several years, and many more experience every day, namely that the town’s infrastructure is woefully unfit for purpose Garry. Your subsequent headline on another article puts it even more in perspective by saying it is fragile. The town has been fortunate not to have experienced this level of gridlock earlier and more frequently. There’s little doubt it will occur again, with those avoiding the new tolled bridge making it more certain. We can only hope the council leader’s promise to tackle the problem before it worsens is realzed.