BY the end of this week, an extra lane will be open on each side of the M6 through the area – but the temporary 50mph speed limit will remain for months.

Work to open an extra lane on each carriageway of the M6 between Warrington and Wigan began at the weekend.

National Highways says that this will help to improve journey times and reliability for the tens of thousands of drivers who use the route daily.

At 6am on Saturday, traffic cones and barriers were removed along the southbound M6 between junctions 22 for Winwick and 21a for Croft.

By the end of this week, there will be an extra lane open to drivers in both the northbound and southbound carriageways, along all 10 miles of the M6 between junctions 21a at Croft for the M62 and 26 at Orrell for the M58.

National Highways says this latest programme of work marks the beginning of the end of the £260million motorway ‘upgrade’, which started in March 2021.

However, the Warrington to Wigan section will continue to run at a maximum of 50mph, with other interim safety measures in place.

The Government agency says this is until work to calibrate technology, including stopped vehicle detection, is completed.

The motorway project is expected to be fully complete, with the 70mph maximum national speed limit restored, by next spring.

Alongside adding an extra lane in both the northbound and southbound carriageways the work 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 so-called smart motorways and advice and guidance on safer driving and what to do in an emergency.

To view this, visit nationalhighways.co.uk/road-safety/driving-on-motorways