NATIONAL Highways is set to double the number of emergency areas as part of the upgrade of the M6 smart motorway between junction 21a and junction 26 between Warrington and Wigan to improve safety.
It means that when the upgraded road opens drivers will have more places to stop if they need to in an emergency.
The original plan was for ten emergency areas along the upgraded stretch of the motorway. But the project team has now been given the green light to add up to a dozen more as part of a Government commitment to build more than 150 additional emergency areas on all lane running (ALR) motorways across the country by 2025.
Earlier this year, the Government cancelled plans for any new smart motorways, recognising cost pressures and the lack of confidence felt by some drivers.
National Highways Project Sponsor Felicity Clayton said:“The safety of people travelling on England’s motorways and major A-roads is National Highways’ highest priority. We have listened to drivers’ concerns about being able to find a safe place to stop in an emergency on motorways which don’t have a permanent hard shoulder and have been developing a programme to roll out even more emergency areas on all lane running smart motorways, in operation and construction.
“This investment in extra emergency areas will help increase road users’ confidence.”
Caption: Extra emergency areas like the one pictured above along the recently completed M56 junction 6 to junction 8 upgrade are being added
to the M6 junction 21a to junction 26 project.
The M6 upgrade, between junction 21a at Croft near Warrington in Cheshire and junction 26 at Orrell in Greater Manchester, started in March 2021 and was due to be completed this spring but is now likely to open in Spring 2025.
National Highways is installing extra technology and adding a lane in each direction along ten miles of the motorway, but the improvement has been slowed by a variety of factors including difficult ground conditions in an area with a history of old mine workings. Building the additional emergency areas will also add time to the construction programme.
Dave Cooke, National Highways senior project manager, explained:
“We made very good progress in our first year and completed the installation of the concrete central reservation barrier between junction 21a and junction 26 last year – in spite of the difficult ground conditions.
“Unfortunately, our work to convert the hard shoulders into an extra running lane and provide the extra technology to help smooth drivers’ journeys along the upgraded motorway has met further challenges.
“This is one of the busiest sections of motorway in the region and we are desperate to finish this work to provide even safer, smoother and more reliable journeys for the 120,000 drivers who use this part of the M6 every day. I’d like to reassure everyone that we are working as quickly as is safely possible to complete this project.”
M6 emergency areas to double in Warrington to Wigan upgrade
National Highways is to double the number of emergency areas it is providing as part of the upgrade of the M6 between junction 21a and junction 26 between Warrington and Wigan.
It means that when the upgraded road opens drivers will have more places to stop if they need to in an emergency.
The original plan was for ten emergency areas along the upgraded stretch of motorway. But the project team has now been given the green light to add up to a dozen more as part of a Government commitment to build more than 150 additional emergency areas on all lane running (ALR) motorways across the country by 2025.
Earlier this year, the Government cancelled plans for any new smart motorways, recognising cost pressures and the lack of confidence felt by some drivers.
National Highways Project Sponsor Felicity Clayton said:
“The safety of people travelling on England’s motorways and major A-roads is National Highways’ highest priority. We have listened to drivers’ concerns about being able to find a safe place to stop in an emergency on motorways which don’t have a permanent hard shoulder and have been developing a programme to roll out even more emergency areas on all lane running smart motorways, in operation and construction.
“This investment in extra emergency areas will help increase road users’ confidence.”
The M6 upgrade, between junction 21a at Croft near Warrington in Cheshire and junction 26 at Orrell in Greater Manchester, started in March 2021 and was due to be completed this spring but is now likely to open in Spring 2025.
National Highways is installing extra technology and adding a lane in each direction along ten miles of the motorway, but the improvement has been slowed by a variety of factors including difficult ground conditions in an area with a history of old mine workings. Building the additional emergency areas will also add time to the construction programme.
Dave Cooke, National Highways senior project manager, explained:
“We made very good progress in our first year and completed the installation of the concrete central reservation barrier between junction 21a and junction 26 last year – in spite of the difficult ground conditions.
“Unfortunately, our work to convert the hard shoulders into an extra running lane and provide the extra technology to help smooth drivers’ journeys along the upgraded motorway has met further challenges.
“This is one of the busiest sections of motorway in the region and we are desperate to finish this work to provide even safer, smoother and more reliable journeys for the 120,000 drivers who use this part of the M6 every day. I’d like to reassure everyone that we are working as quickly as is safely possible to complete this project.”
As well as ongoing work to convert the hard shoulders into an extra running lane in both the southbound and northbound carriageways, the project team has been busy this year installing gantries to carry the electronic signs and other technology for the upgrade.
During the work so far nearly 150,000 cubic metres of earth – enough to fill 60 Olympic swimming pools – has been excavated with the challenging ground conditions causing knock-on delays to other aspects of the project including drainage. The removal of large areas of invasive shrubs and trees in the grass verges has also taken longer than anticipated.
Once the project is completed, new radar detectors positioned along the motorway will automatically detect stationary vehicles. A total of 92 electronic signs will be used to set variable speed limits to help prevent stop-start conditions and close lanes by displaying Red Xs during incidents. Around 40 new CCTV cameras will provide live images of the motorway 24 hours a day to National Highways’ regional operations centre in Newton-le-Willows.
Drivers will also be able to use any of the now up to 22 new orange coloured emergency areas if they need to stop in an emergency. Emergency areas are clearly marked by blue signs featuring an orange emergency area shape and SOS telephone symbol and have roadside telephones providing a direct link to the regional operations centre.
More information about the project is available from a dedicated webpage.
#M6 #Warrington #Wigan
We’re doubling the number of emergency areas provided in our M6 J.21a to J.26 upgrade.Full story here: https://t.co/9Zw9Lwr4Me pic.twitter.com/qUcMCCzqyL
— National Highways: North-West (@HighwaysNWEST) December 14, 2023
