New lanes open on M6 Warrington to Wigan motorway upgrade
Work to open an extra lane in each carriageway of the M6 between Warrington and Wigan has now been completed - helping to improve journey times and reliability for the tens of thousands of drivers who use the route daily.
At 6am on Saturday 12 October, National Highways lifted the traffic cones and barriers along the southbound M6 between junction 22 at Winwick and junction 21a at Croft. And, by Friday (18 October), an extra lane was opened to drivers in both the northbound and southbound carriageways along all ten miles of the M6 between junction 21a at Croft interchange with the M62 and junction 26 at Orrell interchange with the M58.
This latest programme of work marks the beginning of the end of the £260 million motorway upgrade which started in March 2021.
The newly-upgraded Warrington to Wigan section will run at a maximum of 50mph - with other interim safety measures in place - until work to calibrate technology, including stopped vehicle detection, is completed. The upgrade is then expected to fully open, with the 70mph maximum national speed limit restored, by next spring.
Alongside adding an extra lane in both the northbound and southbound carriageways the upgrade has involved providing extra technology and safety enhancements, including stopped vehicle detection. Stopped vehicle detection uses radar technology to alert National Highways’ control centre operators who can then close lanes with a Red X signal, display speed limits and deploy traffic officers.
The project was extended in December to add an extra 12 emergency areas – with 22 provided in all – as well as resurfacing all lanes along most of the upgraded route.
Temporary additional CCTV from the roadworks and a free recovery service will remain in place alongside the new permanent systems during the technology commissioning period. Drivers will also be able to use any of the 22 new emergency areas if they need to stop in an emergency.
National Highways launched a ‘Driving on motorways’ hub in 2022 – providing information about the main features of smart motorways, and advice and guidance on safer driving and what to do in an emergency.
Further details on the M6 upgrade are available at the project's dedicated webpage
Notes to Editors
Picture is of northbound M6 between Junction 23 and junction 26 following the opening of an extra lane to traffic last week.
