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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITS (UK) confirms shortlists for awards
    November 3, 2021
    The event will also feature a tour of Cubic's facility
  • Virginia presses ahead with tunnels upgrade despite tolls challenge
    July 30, 2013
    David Crawford reviews current developments and legal/financial issues facing tunnel management in Virginia. This autumn the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in the US will defend its plan to introduce tolling on the Elizabeth River tunnels linking the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth in the State’s Hampton Roads area. The tolling, which is due to start from February 2014, will be examined by the State’s Supreme Court later this year. The anticipated toll income, along with loans and bonds, is
  • Dynamic charging boosts electric vehicles’ potential
    December 16, 2014
    With an increasing need to use electric vehicles in city centres to reduce pollution, David Crawford looks at various solutions to power delivery. The UN’s September 2014 Climate Summit has added fresh momentum to the drive to increase urban electric vehicle (EV) takeup. It has launched the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative, which wants to see EVs accounting for 30% of all urban travel by 2030, and make cities worldwide more friendly to their use. Encouragingly, the plan is being well supported by commerci
  • Qatar invests $70 billion to pave the way to world beating transportation
    July 26, 2013
    Eng. Zeina Nazer looks at what Qatar’s recently-announced investment in transport infrastructure will mean on the ground. Qatar is experiencing a rapid economic and industrial growth. This growth is characterised by a rapid population increase and by the urgent need towards the development of both infrastructure projects and major transport projects. In order to handle this rate of development within Qatar, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is developing a fully-integrated multimodal transportation system in