Skip to main content

Section of M6 motorway to be made ‘smart’

A section of the M6 motorway in the UK between junctions 10a and 13 is to be upgraded to a smart (managed) motorway with all-lane running. This section of the motorway is a major strategic route, carrying around 120,000 vehicles per day.
November 1, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A section of the M6 motorway in the UK between junctions 10a and 13 is to be upgraded to a Smart (managed) motorway with all-lane running. This section of the motorway is a major strategic route, carrying around 120,000 vehicles per day.

Carillion has been awarded a US$113 million construction contract for the scheme, which currently has an estimated overall cost of US$140 million. The project will increase the capacity of the M6 between the two junctions by improving traffic flow and relieving congestion with variable mandatory speed restrictions at peak times and converting the existing hard shoulder between junctions 11a and 13 to an additional permanent running lane with Smart motorways technology.

The scheme is part of a pilot initiative to speed up delivery of road projects, to ensure road users and the economy benefit from improvements sooner. Advanced enabling works started in September 2013 and full construction can now continue from the award of the construction contract. This is ahead of the planned construction start date of between January and March 2014. The full scheme is expected to be completed by spring 2015

Roads minister Robert Goodwill said: "I welcome today's contract award which is an important step towards the 503 Highways Agency starting the main construction works on this much-needed scheme.”

David Cooke, Highways Agency project manager, said:  “Once completed in spring 2015, this scheme will relieve congestion on this major transport route, improving journey time reliability and safety for road users.  Over the coming months road users will start to see the additional verge mounted signs and gantries being installed. Much of the work will be less noticeable as the installation and testing of supporting hidden roadside technology will be ongoing throughout the scheme.”

Carillion chief executive, Richard Howson, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded another contract to install Smart motorway technology on the M6. Carillion is already successfully delivering a Smart motorway project for the Highways Agency between Junctions 5 and 8 on the M6 and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Highways Agency to improve journey times for the travelling public along this major route.”

Related Content

  • Smart motorways make sense, says FTA
    September 4, 2015
    The implementation of smart motorways in Northern Ireland would make economic, environmental and safety sense, according to the Freight Transport Association (FTA) today. Responding to a study commissioned by the roads authority, TransportNI, which outlines the proposal of the M1 and M2 in and out of Belfast becoming smart motorways, FTA stated that freight operators would see benefits in the introduction, economically, environmentally and would improve safety on the routes.
  • England’s first motorway celebrates 60th birthday with ITS upgrade
    December 5, 2018
    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
  • Australia highway to receive smart tech 
    October 12, 2021
    Smart motorway tech will be installed between Pine River and Caloundra Road
  • Major road projects to improve journeys in Merseyside and Cheshire
    September 1, 2017
    Two major new road schemes worth more than US$388 million (£300 million) are set to cut congestion and improve journey times for hundreds of thousands of drivers in Merseyside and Cheshire, UK. Highways England has set out its preferred options for upgrading the key route to the Port of Liverpool and creating a new junction on the M56 near Runcorn following public consultations earlier this year.