Highways England has appointed Costain to design and manage the construction of the £138m Simister Island project.
The scheme will provide a direct link from the eastbound to southbound clockwise M60 for the first time – removing a significant number of vehicles from the roundabout at the junction.
A free-flow link from the northbound to westbound anti-clockwise M60 will also be built and Highways England said that providing more room on the southbound M66 will help drivers join the eastbound M62 and negotiate the roundabout for M60 access more easily.
The scheme also includes converting a mile-long stretch between the amended Junction 18 and Junction 17 to a permanent extra lane to provide dedicated lanes for drivers travelling between motorways.
Although this is would create an all lane running scheme of the type Highways England usually describes as a smart motorway, neither January’s route announcement brochure nor its latest announcement used either term.
Project manager Nicola Eastwell said: ‘We’re really pleased to now have a delivery partner on board for this major improvement. After we announced the preferred options for the improvements in January we’re looking forward to working with Costain and design partner Jacobs to deliver a further consultation at the end of the year and – subject to approval - get construction off the ground before the end of 2025.’
Malcolm Bell, Costain programme director, said: ‘This is a critical project supporting economic growth in the North of England. We are pleased to contribute to the development of the local area by connecting communities and bringing additional benefits such as skills and employment events, helping to support the needs of the local area.’
The Simister Island interchange, which links the M60, M66 and M62, is one of the busiest motorway junctions in the North West and is used by around 90,000 vehicles each day.
Highways England said the junction struggles with volumes of traffic far above what it was designed for and suffers from congestion and poor journey time reliability.
A public consultation on the scheme is now being planned for this winter, and a planning application is due to be submitted next year.
Highways England said that if the plans are approved, work on the project could start by spring 2025.
