I recently met Kearsley residents to hear their concerns about the proposals for the expansion of the M60 and M62 in my constituency.  There has been a lot of anxiety and rumours about the re-purposing of land, compulsory purchase orders and how the route of the expansion will impact residents.  I share these concerns and have been in dialogue with Highways for England and Transport for the North.  I have assurances from Transport for the North that they will arrange a meeting with residents in the New Year to discuss the project fully, but until then, I have been provided with the following information about the North West Quadrant Project, which you can read below:

Project Overview

The Manchester North West Quadrant (MNWQ) was one of six strategic studies set out in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) first Roads Investment Strategy (RIS) in late 2014.  The MNWQ strategic study investigated a number of solutions for road, rail and bus to relieve pressure on the M60 between junctions 8 and 18. This is to ensure the area’s economic growth potential is not constrained and that sufficient transport capacity is provided.

This study builds on the improvements which have already been made between M60 junction 8 and M62 junction 20 (Manchester smart motorway) which became fully operational in July 2018.

Following the outcome of the strategic study, the Department for Transport commissioned Highways England to carry out further design, analysis and environmental assessment on the ‘optimised in-corridor package’ for the Strategic Road Network (SRN) improvements; and Transport for the North (TfN) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to progress work on the heavy rail, cross city bus and local road improvements.

The ‘optimised in-corridor package’ comprises of improvements largely within the existing M60 corridor and could also include a bypass of the M60 junctions 12 to 18.

Current work and timelines

Highways England are currently working with key stakeholders, collating and analysing data to better understand the issues and develop ideas. As part of this, they have contacted some land owners about carrying out surveys from public rights of way.  The information will be used to carefully identify potential options and investigate each of these, looking at their benefits and potential impacts on road users, the environment and economy.

Based on current timescales, Highways England expect to assess and develop a shortlist of options by Winter 2019 to take to a public consultation in Spring 2020.

Further Information

Further information, including stakeholder presentations, is available on the Highways England project website

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/projects/manchester-north-west-quadrant/

Click here to read the letter sent to some Kearsley residents.

You can view older stakeholder meeting presentations here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/manchester-north-west-quadrant-strategic-study-stakeholder-reference-group