M60 Junction 18 Simister Island Interchange Preferred Route Announcement
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
M60 junction 18 Simister Island interchange Preferred route announcement January 2021 M60 junction 18 Simister Island interchange Introduction At Highways England we believe in a connected country and our network makes these connections happen. We strive to improve our major roads and motorways - engineering the future to keep people moving today and moving better tomorrow. We want to make sure all our major roads are more dependable, durable and, most importantly, safe. In the north-west, we are investing in ways to increase capacity and improve connections to make sure your journeys are as reliable as possible. The M60 junction 18 Simister Island interchange scheme is a critical part of this investment, supporting economic growth by better connecting major cities across the north of England. The scheme is vital in reducing congestion for the future, reducing safety risks, improving journey time reliability for all road users and increasing connectivity between local areas. Why is the Scheme objectives scheme needed? The main objectives of the scheme are: Simister Island interchange between the M62, To improve the journey experience for users M60 and M66, is one of the busiest motorway of this section of network by: junctions in the north-west, used by around reducing peak congestion and providing 90,000 vehicles each day. The junction faster average speeds struggles with high volumes of traffic, far reducing journey times above what it was designed for, and as a result delivering more reliable journey times suffers from congestion and poor journey time reliability. To provide an option which is safe for all road users To minimise the impact of our option on the surrounding environment including within Noise Important Areas and Air Quality Management Areas To facilitate future economic growth across the Greater Manchester area and support the proposals in the regional and local authorities’ transport strategies and Local Plans 2 Preferred route announcement Preferred route announcement (Northern Loop) We have chosen the Northern Loop option for Safety is another of our main considerations for improving junction 18 of the M60. developing this scheme. It is our first imperative as an organisation, and for that reason we’re The Northern Loop will deliver our objective of constantly reviewing driver safety when providing more capacity at Simister Island, as designing projects. Concerns were raised by well as improving journey times and reliability. the public during consultation about the Inner This means you’ll experience less congested Links option, with many drivers worrying they journeys through the junction, and fewer would not feel safe using that proposed road unexpected delays. layout. When selecting the preferred route, we Two other common concerns were raised with considered several criteria, including the us about safety during our consultation in 2020. scheme objectives, safety, benefits, costs, The first concern was about the conversion of environmental effects, construction and the hard shoulder into a traffic lane. The safety feedback from the public consultation we held of using the hard shoulder as a traffic lane was during summer 2020. comprehensively reviewed by the government While both options would meet the scheme in its evidence stocktake report, published in objectives, the Northern Loop will provide March 2020. The review found that in most greater capacity improvements and journey ways, roads upgraded to use the hard shoulder time savings for road users when compared to are as safe as or safer than conventional the Inner Links. These benefits will therefore be motorways. The review also included 18 actions felt for longer into the future, as predicted traffic to make them even safer. We’ll incorporate the levels continue to grow. recommendations from the stocktake in our designs wherever appropriate. The option we’ve selected was also widely supported during the public consultation, The second common concern raised was the with over 67% of respondents preferring the potential for confusion as drivers approach and Northern Loop. navigate the junction. We’ll keep this feedback in mind as we continue to develop our design, We do not expect to purchase any houses making it as clear as possible to navigate to build this option, although we will need to the junction. We could achieve this using purchase some land, for example, to the north- several different solutions which we’re currently east of the junction. This is required to build exploring. This includes painted lane markings, the new ‘loop’ structure. Most of the remaining different coloured reflective road studs or construction is contained within the current enhanced direction signage. highway boundary or immediately adjacent to it. This will help to minimise any further effects Although more expensive than the Inner Links on the existing natural environmental. option, the longer-term benefits offered by the Northern Loop makes this option better value for money. 3 M62 Unsworth e Realigned M66 slip road n a L M60 junction 18 Simister Island interchange r r e M66 a v i P r D y New loop structure e s r e M Widening of M66 southbound M62 e e Driv Ribbl Renewal of traffic signals at Junction 18 the roundabout e Lan ister Sim Simister ne Whiteeld a A56 Moss Lane L k a M60 O New signs and street lighting for junction 18 e an and its approaches r L M60 te is im Conversion of hard shoulder into a live S lane between junctions 17 and 18 New free-ow link M60 e an h L S ac a Le n h d tc g ha a T t e Heaton Park R o a d A665 Kirkhams M60 Bury Old Road A56 Heaton Park Reservoir Junction 17 Heywood Road M60 junction 18 – Simister Island Prestwich M60 A665 Northern Loop preferred option © Crown copyright and database rights 2020 OS 100030649. HE creative MCR20_0075-SL The Northern Loop design The most prominent feature of this option We’ll also introduce improved signage and involves creating a new loop structure providing signalling including: a free-flow link from M60 eastbound to M60 new signs and street lighting at junction 18 southbound (clockwise), including a new and its approaches bridge over the M66 and junction 18 slip roads. We will also realign the M66 motorway as it new gantries on the M66 southbound, and heads south under junction 18, and introduce between M60 junctions 17 and 18 another lane to accommodate the merging The Northern Loop provides us with multiple traffic from the loop. construction challenges. To address these, We will also build a new two-lane free-flow road we will plan the construction of this project from the M60 northbound to the M60 westbound to minimise disruption on residents and road to replace the existing single-lane, and widen users as far as possible, taking into account the M66 southbound to four lanes through periods of high usage, such as Bank Holidays, junction 18. The Northern Loop will mean less large public or sporting events and other traffic has to travel through and stop at the nearby roadworks. roundabout because of the new free flow links. As we continue to develop and refine our We’ll also convert the hard shoulder into a design, we’ll carry out further environmental permanent traffic lane between M60 junctions assessments in order that we deliver a solution 17 and 18, providing 5 lanes in both directions; which is considerate of the surrounding area this will provide benefit to the project by and is compliant with national environmental improving traffic conditions along the M60, and policy. allow traffic joining and leaving at junctions 17 and 18 to avoid changing lanes as often. 4 Inner Links rejected option Although, both options align with our Due to the complex design, the Inner Links objectives, we haven’t chosen Inner Links to would also be more challenging to build, and develop further because it doesn’t offer the would require more traffic management and same amount of longer term benefits, capacity road closures during construction. and journey time improvements that the We acknowledge concerns raised during Northern Loop provides. consultation that introducing additional lanes The Inner Links was not well supported during and signals on the roundabout could make the the consultation, with only 24% of respondents junction more confusing for drivers to navigate, supporting the option. leading to an increased risk of accidents. As the Northern Loop option removes the need for additional lanes and signals going through the junction, we believe that this option will be less confusing for drivers. M62 M60 junction 18 – Simister Island Unsworth Inner Links rejected option M66 e n a L r r e a v P i r Hills Lane bridge D y replacement e s r e Widening of the M66 slip road M New signs and street M62 lighting for junction 18 and its approaches e New free-ow link e Driv Ribbl e Lan ister Sim Reconguration of the Junction 18 junction 18 roundabout Widening of the M60 eastbound slip road Simister ne Whiteeld a A56 Moss Lane L k a M60 Renewal of traffic O signals at the e roundabout an r L te is im S Conversion of hard shoulder into a live M60 lane between junctions 17 and 18 New free-ow link M60 e an h L S ac a M60 Le n h d tc g ha a T t e Heaton Park R o a d A665 Kirkhams Bury Old Road A56 Heaton Park Reservoir Junction 17 Heywood Road Prestwich M60 A665 © Crown copyright and database rights 2020 OS 100030649. HE creative MCR20_0075-SL 5 M60 junction 18 Simister Island interchange Responses from public consultation We received 817 responses to the consultation, this includes responses from the Local Authorities, impacted land owners and local communities.