Skip to main content

Manchester orbital route to become ‘smart motorway’

Four companies, Balfour Beatty, together with Costain, Carillion and a BAM Nuttall Morgan Sindall joint venture, have been awarded the contract to upgrade a 17 mile stretch of the M60 and M62 to a ‘smart motorway’. The US$313 million upgrade, for the UK Highways Agency, aims to increase capacity, reduce congestion and shorten journey times for motorists. The M60 between junctions 8 and 12 will be upgraded to a controlled motorway with traffic flows managed by technology interventions responsive to the
June 19, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Four companies, 3902 Balfour Beatty, together with 2002 Costain, 7813 Carillion, 7815 BAM Nuttall and 7814 Morgan Sindall joint venture, have been awarded the contract to upgrade a 17 mile stretch of the M60 and M62 to a ‘Smart motorway’.

The US$313 million upgrade, for the 1841 UK Highways Agency, aims to increase capacity, reduce congestion and shorten journey times for motorists.

The M60 between junctions 8 and 12 will be upgraded to a controlled motorway with traffic flows managed by technology interventions responsive to the volume of traffic on the network.  The M62 between junctions 18 and 20 will become a four-lane, all-lane running motorway by adapting the hard shoulder for continuous use and using electronic signs to manage traffic flows.

Balfour Beatty executive chairman, Steve Marshall said:  “We have been working with the Highways Agency for twenty years and look forward to building on that successful relationship.  This scheme will benefit the 180,000 road users that pass through this section of the motorway network every day. We are committed to lead this project in a collaborative way with our partners, employing local people and businesses in our supply chain.”

Related Content

  • November 8, 2013
    'Smart' motorways on their way to Greater Manchester
    Details of a multi-million pound project have been unveiled that will cut congestion and improve journey times on parts of the M60 and M62 in Greater Manchester. The smart motorways scheme – the first of its kind in the north-west – will be introduced on a 17-mile stretch of the network between junction 8 of the M60 near Sale and junction 20 of the M62 near Rochdale. The system will use the latest technology to monitor traffic levels, provide traffic information to road users, and ease congestion by usin
  • July 22, 2015
    Balfour Beatty JV to deliver UK smart motorways package
    The Balfour Beatty Vinci joint venture has been awarded a contract by Highways England to deliver a smart motorway package worth up to US$792 million, the largest of Highways England’s three packages within its US$2.3 billion Smart Motorway Programme. The joint venture will deliver smart motorway upgrades to a ten mile stretch of the M5 Junctions 4a to 6 in Worcestershire; a 12 mile section of the M6 Junctions 2 to 4 in the Midlands and a 32 mile stretch of the M4 Junctions 3 to 12 in London and Berkshir
  • September 21, 2015
    MVIS and Bartco UK partner on smart motorway journey time system
    Mobile Visual Information Systems (MVIS) and Bartco UK have partnered on the creation of a journey time solution (JTS) for Bam Morgan Sindall Joint Venture (BMJV) and Costain, contracted by Highways England. The JTS comprises 157 A and C portable VMS, manufactured in the UK by Bartco UK, along with 50 Vysionics Vector integrated ANPR cameras and MVIS’ Web Studio sign management system. It forms part of a new customer experience pilot project on the M1 corridor, which incorporates smart motorway roadworks
  • July 23, 2015
    Over US$2.3 billion of investment awarded to upgrade motorways in England
    Highways England has appointed six joint-venture companies to design and build ten smart motorways across England as part of a US$2.3 billion investment. Three of these projects will start in autumn this year: two in the Midlands on the M1 J19 to J16 in Northamptonshire and the M5 J4a to J6 in Worcestershire, and one in the north-west on the M6 J16 to J19 near Stoke-on-Trent. The smart motorway schemes, part of the US$23 billion government investment Highways England is delivering between now and 2021