M62 managed motorway scheme to be brought forward

The Chancellor committed support to the Northern Transport Strategy, developed by Transport for the North (TfN), and shaped by constituent local authorities and combined authorities.

Commitments were made to develop particular schemes using part of the £300m2 pot announced in November’s Spending Review. One of those would see accelerating the upgrade of the M62 to a four-lane smart motorway.

The government will provide an extra £161 million on top of the existing road programme to bring forward by two years upgrades, including work between Brighouse and Rochdale (junctions 20-25).

Responding to the announcement that the Chancellor will be progressing HS3, a trans-Pennine road tunnel and improvements to the M62, West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee Chair, Councillor Keith Wakefield said: “Everyone agrees that better road and rail links between the our towns and cities are vital to the North achieving its massive economic potential so the Chancellor’s announcement, is welcome.

“However we need to see an ongoing government commitment to ensure these projects for the North don’t become stalled at the planning stage – we need to see them fully funded and delivered as soon as possible.”

Work to upgrade 15.5 miles of the M62 between junctions 25 at Brighouse and junction 30 at Rothwell led to the introduction of a temporary 50mph speed limit, which was first introduced in October 2011 before the scheme was completed in 2013.

The managed motorway system, which cost around £133m - making £48m in savings - is the first of its kind in the north of England.

The system uses a range of smart technology, which is controlled by operators in the regional control centre in Wakefield.