M62 managed motorway scheme
Cutting congestion and improving journey times and safety
The £150m managed motorway scheme - the first of its kind in Yorkshire - will involve the use of variable mandatory speed limits and use of the hard shoulder as an extra traffic lane to ease congestion, with work due for completion in 2013-14.
The scheme features:
- Controlled motorway technology installed along the whole scheme length - junctions 25 to 30 - to allow variable speed limits to be displayed to manage traffic flow and reduce congestion;
- The hard shoulder will become a permanent traffic lane (24 hours a day, seven days a week) in both directions between junctions 25 and 26 and westbound between junctions 30 and 29;
- The hard shoulder will be opened as an additional lane during busy periods in both directions between junctions 26 and 28 and eastbound between junctions 29 and 30;
- As the M62 is four lanes in both directions between junctions 28 and 29 the hard shoulder will not be used as an additional traffic lane.
Information about the speed limit and when to use the hard shoulder will be displayed on electronic signs on gantries above the motorway and monitored by staff in the Agency’s Regional Control Centre at Wakefield.
Work to deliver the scheme will include strengthening the hard shoulder, building emergency refuge areas, installing gantries and electronic signs, and installing sensors in the road to measure traffic levels and speeds. CCTV cameras will also be installed to monitor the motorway and emergency refuge areas.
The scheme has attracted a great deal of interest and in order to reach and communicate with a large, diverse audience the Highways Agency has produced a short film. The film addresses the most frequently asked questions that members of the public have had about the scheme: You Tube: M62 Junction 25 to 30|
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Overnight weekend closures
To house new managed motorway technology, the Highways Agency will be installing 36 new gantries and refurbishing 16 existing gantries. For this work to be carried out safely, it will be necessary to close sections of the M62.
To keep disruption to a minimum closures will be overnight, on weekends, when traffic flows are considerably lighter. The closures will commence at 8pm in the evening and be lifted by 8am the following morning. Diversion routes will be clearly sign posted. In total there will be 20 closures of the M62, between junctions 25 and 30, to successfully install the new and refurbish the existing gantries. The closures commence in March and will be completed by November 2012. The closures will take place approximately every other weekend.
The first closure is scheduled for Saturday 17th March 2012 and will be between junctions 27 and 28. Please note the works are weather dependant and may have to be cancelled at short notice.
For further information about the scheme visit Highways Agency: M62 J25 to J30 Managed Motorway|
