Boost for Cheshire as £6.5m M56 Safety Scheme Starts
A £6.5m scheme that will see drivers on the M56 benefit from more reliable and safer journeys is to be delivered early as part of the Department for Transport’s £700 million fiscal stimulus package.
Overnight work starts today (Monday, October 19) – more than a year ahead of schedule – on the Highways Agency scheme to provide an automatic safety warning system for drivers on a 21-mile stretch of the M56 between Junction 9 at Lymm and Junction 16 near the Welsh border.
When complete in March next year, the system, known as MIDAS (Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling) will see real-time traffic information, generated by sensors embedded in the road surface, displayed on gantry and verge-mounted electronic signs.
They will provide drivers with journey time information including warnings about congestion or any accidents ahead.
Transport Minister Chris Mole said:
“The Government is committed to ‘Building Britain’s Future’ and bringing forward infrastructure investment wherever possible to help stimulate the economy.
“Fiscal stimulus funding from the Department for Transport will enable the Highways Agency to deliver £400 million of accelerated works this financial year, with the busy M56 linking the North West with North Wales just one part of the motorway and trunk road network to benefit. These technology improvements will help inform road users and make journeys on the M56 safer and more reliable.”
Matt Sweeting, Highways Agency Regional Performance Manager, said:
“We welcome the opportunity to invest in improving technology on this important link of the North West motorway network by bringing forward this scheme. Extending Motorway Incident Detection and Automated Signalling along the M56 beyond the interchange with the M6 at Junction 9 will bring safety and reliability benefits for road users.”
The scheme will also see new emergency roadside telephones (ERTs) installed, barriers in the verge and central reservation replaced and new-style variable message signs (VMS) introduced which will display ‘pictogram’ messages as well as traditional text warnings of hazards ahead.
New CCTV cameras – like MIDAS, a first for this part of the region’s motorway network – will allow the Agency’s North West Traffic Officer Service to monitor and better manage traffic and incidents from the Regional Control Centre at Newton-Le-Willows
The scheme will be delivered in two phases – beginning before and after Christmas with a break in traffic management over the Christmas holiday period.
Phase one, installing MIDAS ‘loop’ sensors in the carriageway, will involve overnight working only with single lane running between 10pm and 5am on weekdays. Phase two, installing the new electronic signs, cameras and new barriers, will involve working around the clock throughout the week. The hardshoulder will be closed at all times with lane closures limited to overnight working between 10pm and 5am when, again, there will be single lane running.
A 50mph speed limit will be in place throughout the roadworks supported by average speed cameras to ensure the safety of road users and workforce. Drivers are advised to approach these roadworks with care and allow extra time for their journeys.
Several overnight closures of the westbound M56 between Junctions 15 and 16 will also be required to complete the scheme. These will be publicised with signed diversions using the A55 and M53.
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