National Highways has responded to a public consultation into its plans to upgrade the Simister Island junction in Greater Manchester.

The newspaper the Bury Times reports plans have changed in terms of scale, from a reduction in land needed for drainage to small realignments of the scheme boundary.

A spokesperson told the paper: “We undertook a targeted consultation during the summer, to let those affected know about the changes and understand their views.

“We’re currently preparing to submit our development consent order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate and expect to do this in early 2024.

“Our application will include a detailed consultation report which will summarise the consultation findings and explain how they have informed any changes or refinements to the scheme design.”

Simister Island Interchange is one of the busiest motorway junctions in the north-west used by around 90,000 vehicles each day. The junction struggles with such high volumes of traffic above what it was designed for, and as a result suffers from congestion and poor journey time reliability.

National Highways says the project will improve junction 18 of the M60 and facilitate smoother flows of traffic along the connecting motorways, contributing to more reliable and safer journeys into and around Greater Manchester.

In the summer of 2021, Costain and Jacobs were appointed to design and manage the construction of the junction improvement.

(Picture – Costain)