M6 junction 21a to 26 motorway upgrade

We're improving the 10-mile section of the M6 between junctions 21a and 26, by upgrading it to an all-lane running motorway. This will provide increased capacity in a cost-effective way, maximising the use of the existing road.

Start date March 2021
End date Spring 2025
Cost £259 million to £285 million

Latest updates

  • 18 November 2024

    Project progress and upcoming closures

    Since opening the new fourth lane, we’ve been completing finishing work and testing systems to ensure they’re working as expected.

    We’re reducing disruption by doing most of this work under overnight lane and slip road closures. However, some full night-time carriageway closures are required for safety in November.

    The roadworks will allow us to continue fine-tuning safety and technology systems and complete further finishing work. This includes optimising signals at junction 23 (Haydock Island) of the M6 to improve traffic flows.

    Please be aware that a 50mph speed limit remains in place during our current phase of work.

    Temporary CCTV cameras used for the upgrade will remain alongside newly installed permanent cameras. We’ll also maintain our free recovery service for anybody who may break down.

    When systems are performing as expected at 50mph, we'll increase the maximum speed to the national limit of 70mph. From then on, further testing continues as part of our continual improvement process.

    We're now in the final stages of our project ahead of fully opening at 70mph by spring 2025.

    Latest overnight motorway closures

    To safely progress our work, we’ll need the following overnight (9pm to 6am) motorway closures:

    Diversion routes will be clearly signposted.

    Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England site. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.

    You can also check our regional X (formerly Twitter) page.

    Remember to keep left

    Drivers are experiencing smoother journeys due to the additional capacity the new lane in each direction has provided.

    However, we’re reminding motorists to keep left unless you’re overtaking. This helps you and other road users stay safe and means traffic can flow as smoothly as possible.

    Recently completed work

    After opening a new fourth lane in each direction last month, we’ve completed resurfacing at two locations:

    • resurfaced lanes two and three of the M6 southbound between junction 26 (Orrell) and 25 (Bryn)
    • completed resurfacing on a section of the M6 northbound between junction 24 (Ashton-in-Makerfield) and 25 following a heavy goods vehicle collision

    Local council improvement work

    St Helens Borough Council is carrying out improvements to the local road network around junction 22 (Winwick) of the M6. The work forms part of the Parkside Link Road project.

    We’re closely working with the council to ensure they can carry out their work, while minimising driver disruption.

    At times this means the roundabout at junction 22 will be closed overnight (9pm to 6am). You can find more details about the road closures on the council’s website.

  • 17 October 2024

    Phased fourth lane opening under way

    We've started work to open an extra lane in both directions on the M6 between Wigan and Warrington. We've removed temporary cones and signs from sections of the ten-mile motorway upgrade.

    Over the next few nights, we'll continue our phased removal of the remaining roadworks. We'll work as quickly and safely as possible. 

    We expect drivers will be able to use a new fourth lane on the M6 between junction 21a and 26 from Thursday 17 October. The extra capacity will improve journey times and reliability for thousands of motorists who use the route every day.

    The 50mph speed limit will remain while we fine-tune newly installed safety and technology features.

    We're now in the final stages of our project ahead of fully opening at 70mph by spring 2025. Our work will take around 12 weeks to complete.

    Safety features of the motorway upgrade 

    New technology features are part of a system that further reduces risks associated with live lane breakdowns. We need to finely adjust them to suit the environment of the road where we've installed them. 

    We can only do this:

    • when no roadworks are taking place
    • when drivers are able to use all lanes of the upgraded carriageway.

    As a safety measure the maximum speed limit is set at 50mph. 

    In this phase, temporary CCTV cameras used for the roadworks will remain alongside permanent cameras installed in the upgrade. We’ll also maintain our free recovery service for anybody who may break down.

    When systems are performing as expected at 50mph, we'll increase the maximum speed to the national limit of 70mph. From then on, further testing continues as part of our continual improvement process. 

    Emergency areas

    There are now 22 locations for drivers to stop in an emergency between junctions 21a and 26 (11 on each carriageway).

    On average someone travelling at 50mph will reach a place to stop in an emergency every 37 seconds. 

    Visit our driving on  motorways page for:

    • more information about smart motorways
    • advice on driving safely and what to do in an emergency

    Latest overnight motorway closures

    To safely continue the phased opening of the new fourth lane, we'll need the following overnight (9pm to 6am) motorway closures:

    *Due to wet weather, we were unable to close the M6 northbound between junction 21a to 22 as planned on Wednesday 16 October. 

    Additional overnight closures for essential maintenance work to gantry signs and resurfacing will take place on:

    Diversion routes will be clearly signposted.

    Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England site. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.

    You can also check our regional X (formerly Twitter) page.

    What’s happening next? 

    Our main construction work is complete and we’re now in a technology testing and project review phase.

    This will ensure all the safety features and the wider scheme improvements are working as expected.  

    We may identify some minor issues that require additional work as part of this process.

    We’ll reduce disruption by carrying out as much of this work as possible under overnight lane closures. 

    Occasionally, we may need to put full night-time carriageway closures in place for safety. We'll inform you of any full closures on this web page.

  • 09 September 2024

    Construction work nearing completion

    In recent weeks, we’ve continued to make good progress on our M6 upgrade between junction 21a and 26.

    All the new signs are now in place and surfacing of the new emergency areas has been completed.

    Work to install permanent road markings and cat’s eyes throughout the scheme is almost finished, too.

    You may have noticed that all lanes of the motorway are now at the standard width. We need to keep lane one, in both directions, coned off while we finish installing road markings.

    Please be aware that a reduced speed limit (50mph) remains in place for safety. CCTV continues to monitor the motorway and free recovery can be used if you breakdown.

    When this phase of work is finished, we will provide an update on what’s happening next on the scheme.

    Latest closure information

    Detailed below are the latest overnight full motorway closures (9pm to 6am) as part of the scheme:

    We'll also be carrying out overnight lane closures as we complete our finishing works. This includes resurfacing areas of the M6 southbound between junction 26 and 25 starting week commencing Monday 21 October 2024.

    Maintenance work under way

    Essential improvements on the M6 in both directions between junction 26 (Orrell) and Spring Road bridge, and between junction 23 (Haydock Island) and the A580 East Lancashire Road, are being carried out by our maintenance colleagues.

    The work involves carriageway repairs and road surface improvements. This includes replacing road markings, traffic count loops and cat’s eyes, as well as clearing roadside vegetation.

    Night-time lane closures will be in place between junction 26 (Orrell) and Spring Road bridge until the end of September 2024. Additionally, the following overnight closures (9pm to 5am) closures will be in operation:

    • Monday 9 to Friday 13 September: A580 eastbound, from A58 Liverpool Road to Haydock Island
    • Thursday 19 and Friday 20 September: A580 westbound, from Golborne Island to Haydock Island

    Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.

  • 01 July 2024

    Work in July

    We’ve finished most of the work we were carrying out during the day and have removed all the temporary metal barriers. This means you’ll no longer see much activity during the daytime.

    We’re continuing our night-time work to install gantry signs, other signage and resurface what will be the new lane two and three of the M6.

    While we work, we'll need to close stretches of the motorway overnight between 9pm and 6am at various dates through July.

    Closures can change at short notice.  Make sure you check the latest information on our daily closures page. You can also get information on our regional X (formerly Twitter) page.

    Diversion routes will be clearly signposted. 

    Closure locations

    M6 northbound junction 21a to 22

    M6 southbound junction 22 to 21a

    M6 northbound junction 22 to 23

    M6 southbound junction 23 to 22

    M6 northbound junction 23 to 26

    M6 southbound junction 26 to 23

    Diversion routes will be clearly signposted.

  • 09 February 2024

    Work in February and March 2024

    During the day, we’ll continue working in areas behind the metal temporary barrier to construct emergency areas. We are putting 22 in place throughout the scheme as part of the motorway upgrade.

    Meanwhile, we'll be continuing to work overnight over the coming months. This includes putting new signs on gantries to inform drivers, surfacing what will be the new lane one and completing technology work.

    To reduce disruption on motorists, we will be carrying out this work at night-time when traffic levels are lower.

    For the safety of staff and road users, we will need to close lanes and occasionally carriageways to complete our work.

    We've planned closures, overnight from 9pm to 6am, between February and early March.

    Please remember that closure details can change at short notice.  For the most up-to-date information, please visit our daily closures page. 

    Follow this link for more information about the diversions we will use during scheme works.

    We also use gantry variable message signs and advance roadside signs to inform motorists about upcoming road closures.

    Sign up for our weekly email bulletin to be kept informed about all scheme related closures, by contacting: M6J21a26SmartMotorway@nationalhighways.co.uk.

    You can also check our regional Twitter page for the information.

     

    Planting programme underway

    We recently started a comprehensive planting schedule as part of the scheme. This involves planting over 15,000 shrubs and trees, some of which will be over eight feet in height, in the next few months

    As part of this work, we’ll also be re-seeding roadside verges throughout the scheme.

    Our planting programme will initially focus on the area between junction 23 at Haydock and 26 at Orrell.

  • 14 December 2023

    Motorway upgrade to more than double emergency areas

    A major upgrade being delivered on the M6 between Warrington and Wigan will now include more than double the originally planned places for drivers to stop in an emergency.

    Up to 12 new emergency areas are now being included in the scheme, in addition to the original 10.

    The upgrade was originally planned to open earlier this year, but we’re now expecting to complete our work in spring 2025.

    While our motorways are among the safest in the world, we recognise that some people have concerns about being able to find a safe place to stop in an emergency on all lane running motorways (ALR).

    We have listened to drivers’ concerns and the new emergency areas on the M6 are part of a £390million programme to build over 150 additional emergency areas on ALR motorways, in operation and construction

    Emergency areas provide a place to stop in an emergency if drivers cannot exit the motorway or stop at a motorway service area.

    They are marked by blue signs featuring an orange SOS telephone symbol. Each is coloured orange and is around the same length as a football pitch. They are positioned at regular intervals, providing somewhere safe to stop and have phones linked directly to our control rooms.

    In addition to the extra emergency areas, we’ve also experienced some delivery challenges during construction that have impacted our initial work schedule.

    More complex ground conditions than expected, knock-on delays to our drainage programmes, and extra mine treatment work in an area with a history of old mine workings, have had a cumulative impact on our original completion date.

    We’ve also had to remove larger areas of non-native invasive weeds in grass verges throughout much of the scheme, causing changes to our work schedule. A comprehensive landscaping plan is in place to replace lost trees and shrubs before the completion of the scheme.

    We’d like to apologise for any inconvenience the new opening date causes, but also reassure you that we’re working hard to complete our work safely and as quickly as we can.

    When we complete our work, the extra lane in each direction and additional technology will provide much-needed capacity and more reliable journeys for drivers, especially at peak times.

    What happens next?

    Between now and spring 2025, we’ll be completing key elements of the scheme such as:

    • delivering extra technology including CCTV and stopped vehicle detection to enable safer journeys

    • installing up to 22 emergency areas for motorists to use in the event of an emergency

    • putting new and higher capacity drainage in place

    • converting the hard shoulder into an extra running lane to provide much-needed extra capacity for the 120,000 motorists that use this stretch of motorway on a daily basis

    We open all our motorway upgrades in a phased way to ensure that they are fully tested and operational before they go live and that there is a smooth handover from our roadworks teams to our on and off-road traffic officers.

    First, we will open the newly created lane and increase the speed limit to 60mph. Then, when the final remaining systems have been tested to our stringent requirements, we will restore the maximum 70mph limit and the upgraded section will be fully open.

    We will continue to manage the roadworks to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum. We will keep three lanes open at all peak times, and limit other restrictions like closures overnight or at weekends when traffic levels are lowest.

    You can sign up for our scheme traffic bulletin by emailing: m6j21a-26smartmotorway@nationalhighways.co.uk. Alternatively, keep an eye on our daily closures and our regional X (formerly Twitter) page for the latest information.

  • 08 February 2021

    Start of main construction work

    The M6 junction 21a at Croft to 26 at Orrell is a 10-mile-long project that is part of our programme to add capacity to the motorway network. The upgrade will reduce congestion levels and smooth traffic flows, providing more reliable journey times.

    Late last year we began clearing vegetation in the motorway verges between junctions 24 and 26. We are now also carrying out other works including manhole strengthening, mine treatment works and test piling overnight in the same area.

    We’ll be starting the main construction work on the project in March 2021. We expect to complete our main construction work by March 2023.

    Construction will inevitably have some impact on road users, the local community and businesses.

    We have listened to customers regarding the disruption that is caused by carrying out works on the whole length of a scheme at one time. To reduce the impact on road users we will be installing 5 miles of narrow lanes only between junctions 24 and 26 whilst we carry out our works in this area. We will maintain three narrowed lanes running in each direction during the day.

    There will be a reduced speed limit of 50mph throughout our roadworks. Where possible, and it is safe to do so, such as over Easter and Christmas holiday breaks, we will increase this to 60mph.

    These measures are being put in place to allow road users to continue travelling through our roadworks without compromising their safety, or that of our workforce. We expect that the average journey time will only increase by a maximum of 2 minutes during our roadworks.

    Wherever possible, we’re carrying out the noisier operations during the day to reduce disturbance on communities. There is however some work that we can only do at night time which cannot be carried out safely with traffic using the road. We’ll therefore need to use occasional overnight closures of the motorway to complete certain activities. We will keep closures to an absolute minimum in order to cause the least disruption possible.

    When closures are required details will be advertised on Traffic England, sent to stakeholders via email and hard signage will be placed on the affected section of road at least 14 days in advance. Clearly signed diversions will be in place.

    We’ll also operate a 24/7 free recovery service throughout our roadworks with a fully monitored CCTV system in place so that we can quickly identify and remove any stranded vehicles that have broken down within our work area.

See more updates

Project information

Overview

The M6 forms part of the London to north-west and Scotland strategic corridor, and the wider trans-European route, E05. The M6 between junctions 21a and 26 is a key strategic route carrying around 120,000 vehicles daily between Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester. 

Congestion and unreliable journey times are currently experienced at busy periods and traffic is predicted to grow. 

The M6 junction 21a to 26 smart motorway scheme will relieve congestion and smooth the flow of traffic, improving safety and journey times. 

Smart motorways are a technology-driven approach to tackling the most congested parts of the motorway network, improving journey reliability by controlling the flow and speed of traffic. They also support the economy by providing much-needed capacity on the busiest motorways, while maintaining safety for road users and those who work on the roads. 

The design features of the scheme include: 

  • Converting the hard shoulder into a permanent traffic lane 
  • variable mandatory speed limits 
  • driver information, including lane availability, provided through a mixture of gantries and cantilever signs 
  • queue detection and automatic signalling system, which provides queue protection and congestion management 
  • comprehensive low light pan-tilt-zoom CCTV coverage 
  • emergency areas where drivers can stop in an emergency 

With this scheme, we aim to: 

  • reduce congestion and smooth the flow of traffic to improve travel times, making journeys more reliable 
  • support the economy and facilitate economic growth within the region. Providing much needed capacity on the motorway will reduce the cost of economic delay to both commuters and business traffic 
  • continue to deliver a high level of safety performance on the network using smart motorway techniques 
  • minimise environmental impacts 

Visit our M6 junction 21a to 26 feedback tool to have your say. The tool includes an interactive map. You can click on a location to make a specific comment, or give us your general feedback.

ECHO is a one-way feedback tool, so if you’d like a response to your feedback you can email the project team at: m6j21a-26smartmotorway@nationalhighways.co.uk

 

Click image to open M6 junction 21a to 26 feedback tool
Click image to open M6 junction 21a to 26 feedback tool

 

Documents

Traffic information

Information about scheduled roadworks and events on our motorways and major roads.

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0300 123 5000

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