Four contractors have been selected by the Highways Agency to upgrade a 27km section of the Manchester orbital route to ‘smart motorway’.

Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Costain and a BAM Nuttall/Morgan Sindall joint venture were awarded the £184M scheme on the M60 and M62 in a collaboration agreement. Construction work is set to start next month.

The M60 between junctions eight and 12 will be upgraded to a controlled motorway with traffic flows managed by technology responsive to the volume of traffic on the network.

Meanwhile the M62 between junctions 18 and 20 will become a four lane, all lane running motorway by adapting the hard shoulder for continuous use, with electronic signs installed to manage traffic flows.

Other work will include installing and refurbishing gantries, new static and variable signs, lighting, concrete safety barriers, drainage and surfacing works. Completion of the upgrade is scheduled for Autumn 2017.

This project is expected to increase capacity, reduce congestion and shorten journey times for motorists once completed. The contract was awarded under the Highways Agency National Major Projects Framework.

Balfour Beatty’s UK construction business will lead delivery of the scheme. Executive chairman Steve Marshall said: “This scheme will benefit the 180,000 road users that pass through this section of the motorway network every day.”

Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie said: “The upgrading of our road network infrastructure is essential to maintaining and improving connectivity among the various regions of the UK, enabling the nation’s economy to grow.”

(Photo: Highways Agency)

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