M62 junction 20 to 25 smart motorway

We're improving the M62 motorway between junctions 20 to 25 by upgrading it to an 'all-lane running' smart motorway.

Start date January - March 2023

End date Road Period 3 (2025 - 2030)

Cost £283.2 million to £392.3 million

Upgrade paused

On 12 January 2022 the Government’s response to the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into the roll out and safety of smart motorways was published. It included a commitment to pause the rollout of future all lane running (ALR) smart motorway schemes until a full five years’ worth of safety and economic data is available from upgrades delivered before 2020.

The M62 J20-25 upgrade is one of the schemes being paused.

During the pause, we will continue to make sure all existing ALR smart motorways are equipped with best-in-class technology and resources and are as safe as they can possibly be.

At this location on the M62 we are planning to upgrade the existing central reservation barrier to concrete, which will deliver safety benefits. We are currently planning this work and will share more information as soon as possible.

The rest of the upgrade is being paused until five years of safety data is available.

Latest updates

30 April 2021

Ground Investigation Work

From Tuesday 4 May 2021, we’ll be carrying out ground investigation work to continue to gather information we require for our final detailed design.

To complete the work safely we’ll need to close sections of the hard shoulder. We’ll also close slip roads and use lane closures overnight between 9pm and 6am, Monday to Friday, when traffic flows are lower.

When we are closing slip roads we will publicise this via Traffic England and a signed diversion route will be in place. We will also put signs on each slip road giving at least 14 days notice of the closure. In most cases the diversion route will continue along the motorway to the next junction to turn around, avoiding the use of other local roads. We will always keep three lanes open in each direction during the day.

It is possible that this work will create some noise disruption for local residents, but we will take steps to minimise any overnight disturbance as far as possible.

We expect to complete this work by autumn 2021
25 August 2020

Survey works

From Tuesday 1 September 2020, we’ll be carrying survey works on existing drainage, electrical assets and gathering other information required to enable our final detailed design.

To complete the survey work safely we’ll need to close sections of the hard shoulder. When traffic flows are lower between 9pm and 6am, Monday to Friday, we’ll also close slip roads and use lane closures.

When we are closing slip roads we will publicise this via Traffic England and a signed diversion route will be in place. We will also put signs on each slip road giving at least 14 days notice of the closure. In most cases the diversion route will continue along the motorway to the next junction to turn around, avoiding the use of other local roads. We will always keep three lanes open in each direction during the day.

It is possible that this work will create some noise disruption for local residents, but we will take steps to minimise any overnight disturbance as far as possible.

We expect to complete this work by Spring 2021.
15 June 2020

Eastbound carriageway work

From Monday 15 June we will be carrying out work on the eastbound carriageway between junctions 20 and 22 of the M62 to strengthen the hard shoulder in areas so it can be used as a temporary lane during the construction of the smart motorway project next year.

We expect this work to take approximately two weeks to complete, and we’ll need to use lane or full carriageway closures most nights between 10pm and 6am. A signed diversion route will be in place when the eastbound carriageway is closed.

To complete this work safely, we will introduce temporary narrow lanes and a reduced speed limit of 50mph on the eastbound carriageway. The majority of this work will be carried out overnight when traffic levels are much lower and we’ll keep three lanes open in each direction during the day.

It is possible that this work will create some noise disruption for local residents, but we will take steps to minimise any overnight disturbance as far as possible.

We expect to complete this work by July, ahead of the main construction work starting on this project next year.

See more updates

Project information

The M62 is the only east-west motorway spanning the north of England. Running between Merseyside and Yorkshire through Cheshire and Greater Manchester, it serves as both a regional route for longer distance trips and as an important inter-urban route between the Manchester and Leeds city regions.

The government’s Northern Powerhouse strategy identified a need for improved east-west major road links to ensure better and more reliable journey times between the major cities within the north.

The M62 junction 20 to 25 smart motorway is approximately 19 miles long, running through a rural Pennine landscape that contains the highest point on a motorway in England. This high altitude increases the risk of disruption caused by severe weather and the steep gradients creates congestion caused by slower moving vehicles.

We’ll be converting this stretch of the M62 into an all lane running smart motorway, converting the hard shoulder into a permanent traffic lane.

Our scheme aims to: