MOTORISTS in Warrington and Cheshire are to benefit from £303 million worth of road improvements over the next few years with some significant investment in the county’s motorways and major A road network over the next few months, including the M56 at Daresbury and Thelwall Viaduct (pictured above).
The £303 million represents schemes the Highways Agency is already committed to delivering with even more investment before the end of the decade as part of the Government’s £24 billion Action for Roads programme by 2021.
Work to deliver the new £191 million A556 bypass between Bowdon and Knutsford got underway last Friday – for completion in 2017 – while 9 major economy-boosting Pinch Point projects will have been completed by April, improving safety and tackling congestion around key junctions.
Stretches of the motorway and major A road network in the county will also see safer and smoother journey improvements involving bridge and drainage repairs, replacement safety barriers, resurfacing and renewal of signs, road studs and road markings.
The improvements are part of the Government’s £700 million investment in the North West by 2021 with 80 per cent of motorways and major A roads being resurfaced by then.
Jeremy Bloom, the Highways Agency’s major projects director for the north, said: “This is really good news for road users across Cheshire because it will ultimately mean less congestion, more reliable journey times and improved safety. Record amounts are being invested in roads – that inevitably means more road works, but for every scheme we work on there will be an improvement for drivers.
And Alan Shepherd, the Agency’s North West regional director, added: “We are well aware of how frustrating drivers find road works – but I would like to reassure everyone that all our work is planned very carefully to cause as little disruption as possible. Some is inevitable – and we ask for drivers’ cooperation while the improvements are carried out.”
Nationally, every day some four million vehicles use roads managed by the Highways Agency, that’s one third of all traffic; and around 80 per cent of all goods travel by road, with two thirds of large goods vehicles.
Significant repair and maintenance schemes scheduled to be completed in Cheshire by the end of March include a £2 million for renewing safety barrier and £600,000 for resurfacing along the M6 south of Lymm Interchange with the M56, providing smoother and safer journeys for drivers
A further 9 improvements are taking place specifically aimed at supporting local developments, relieving congestion and improving safety. They are:
• £8 million of congestion-reducing roundabout improvements where the A55 meets the A483 south of Chester already underway with a further £130,000 to provide CCTV coverage of the junction for the first time – improving monitoring of and the response to incidents and congestion
• £4.5 million for traffic signals and widening of the junction 11 roundabout along the M56 at Daresbury and £130,000 to install a new CCTV camera to improve monitoring of and the response to incidents and congestion;
• A £3.4 million remodelling of leaving and joining arrangements at junction 17 of the M6 near Sandbach to improve safety and reduce queues
• £1.4 million and £130,000 projects to add more than a dozen CCTV cameras along the M6 between junctions 16 and 19 and junctions 20 and 21
(Thelwall Viaduct) of the M6 to improve monitoring of and the response to incidents and congestion;
• £1.5 million for four new electronic signs and four CCTV camera at Stoak Interchange – where the M56 meets the M53 – to give drivers better information of congestion and incidents and to improve monitoring of and the response to incidents and congestion.
During any roadworks drivers are advised to plan their journeys and allow more for travel. Drivers can get up-to-the-minute travel information by phoning the Highways Agency Information Line on 0300 123 5000 or by accessing the Agency’s website: www.highways.gov.uk/traffic Drivers can also download the Highways Agency’s iPhone app or follow updates via Twitter at @HAtraffic_nwest.
Further information regarding current and planned roadworks in Cheshire plus neighbouring North West counties and regions can be found on the Highways Agency website www.highways.gov.uk/roads
