Skip to main content

Highways England announces funding to improve major motorway junction

Highways England has announced plans to invest total of US$3.7 million (£3 million) for major improvements to Switch Island in Merseyside, one of the north-west’s busiest motorway junctions where the M57, M58 and three A roads connect. Construction work at the junction, which is used by over 90,000 vehicles every day, is expected to start next year. The scheme is designed to improve the flow of traffic and enhance safety, following 49 collisions at the junction in the past two years. New traffic light
April 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
8101 Highways England has announced plans to invest total of US$3.7 million (£3 million) for major improvements to Switch Island in Merseyside, one of the north-west’s busiest motorway junctions where the M57, M58 and three A roads connect.

Construction work at the junction, which is used by over 90,000 vehicles every day, is expected to start next year. The scheme is designed to improve the flow of traffic and enhance safety, following 49 collisions at the junction in the past two years.

New traffic lights will be installed at a height of over 5 metres – higher than HGVs and double-decker buses – so that drivers approaching the junction can clearly see when the lights are changing.
 
Other improvements will include changes to the road layout and lane markings, new barriers between carriageways, coloured high friction surfaces and better signs.

The scheme is being funded by the government’s US$274 million (£220 million) congestion relief programme, which was announced by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling last month.
UTC

Related Content

  • July 7, 2017
    Bristol’s buses trial CycleEye detection system
    Fusion Processing’s Jim Hutchinson looks at a two-year trial of the company’s cyclist detection system. Is cycling in a city dangerous? Well, that depends where you are and how you view statistics. Malmö is far more bike-friendly than Mumbai and the risk can either be perceived as small - one death per 29 million miles cycled in the UK in 2013 - or large - that equated to 109 deaths in the same year. Whatever your personal take on the data, the effect of these accidents can be felt indirectly too. News of c
  • July 21, 2014
    A ‘transport revolution’ for Newcastle
    Sweeping changes that will make the north-east city of Newcastle one of the easiest cities to get around look set to get the green light this week. Described by Newcastle City Council as the biggest change in a generation, the US$30.7 million programme of transport works and smart traffic signal technology is intended to make Newcastle one of the most accessible cities in the UK within five years. A report to the city council Cabinet highlights the huge benefits for pedestrians, cyclists, users of pub
  • December 15, 2015
    TRL wins eighth prestigious international road safety award
    The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has received its eighth Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its work in improving road worker safety. The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards recognise achievements in road safety and are presented to the most outstanding road safety initiatives across the world. TRL won the prestigious award for its research underpinning off side signs removal (OSSR), a signing technique for road works which has enabled elimination of live carriage
  • December 5, 2018
    England’s first motorway celebrates 60th birthday with ITS upgrade
    Sixty years today, 2,300 drivers drove along an eight-mile section of road in England – the first motorway in the country. Opened in 1958, the Preston bypass – now part of the M6 - only had two lanes in each direction, with no safety barrier in the central reservation. There was also no technology – not even simple electronic signs. Highways England is pledging to celebrate the birthday by completing four upgrades on the M6 by spring 2022. The £900m project will add extra lanes and better technolog