Innovative north-west traffic scheme launched

A new scheme to help beat congestion in busy north-west junctions has started.

United Kingdom – A brand new scheme aiming to beat congestion and help traffic flow more smoothly in the north-west has been launched by the Highways Agency.

Traffic signals are being installed on motorway entry slip roads at ten locations on the M6, M60 and M62 in the region.

This motorway access management scheme will help to better regulate traffic joining the motorway.

"Motorway access management is one of the innovative techniques being introduced by the Highways Agency to deal with congestion and journey time reliability," says Roy Wood, area manager for the Agency.

"The system will allow traffic to join the motorway more smoothly and safely."

He adds that drivers may experience some slight delays in the scheme’s first week of operation as control software is fine-tuned to give optimum performance.

The launch of the motorway access management project in the north-west is the first phase of a £6 million project, with a further 20 sites being planned across the motorway network nationally.

The first operational signal is in place at the clockwise entry slip road on the M60 at Junction 2, Cheadle.

Other sites to be switched on include those on the M6 Junction 22 southbound, Newton le Willows, Merseyside, M6 Junction 25 southbound, Bryn, Greater Manchester and the M62 Junction 11 eastbound, Risley, Cheshire on Monday June 19th 2006.

On Monday June 26th 2006, signals at the M6 Junction 23 southbound, Haydock, Merseyside, M6 Junction 22 northbound, Newton le Willows, Merseyside and M6 Junction 24 northbound, Ashton in Makerfield, Greater Manchester will be switched on.

Monday July 3rd 2006 will see signals switched on at the M6 Junction 23 northbound, Haydock, Merseyside, M6 Junction 18 northbound, Middlewich, Cheshire and M62 Junction 19 Eastbound, Heywood, Greater Manchester.

The system has been successfully trialled on the M6 north of Birmingham where it has been shown to reduce congestion and improve journey times on the motorway by up to11 per cent.

It is already used overseas in the Netherlands and the US.

Motorway access management works via sensors located on the carriageway, which monitor the traffic flow.

Additional sensors on the slip road automatically turn off the system to prevent the build up of traffic on the local road network.