Final weekend closure for new £192 million A556 project

by
10th March 2017

Final weekend closure for new £192 million A556 project

The final weekend closure of the A556 link between the M56 and M6 in Cheshire will take place from tomorrow night. 

Drivers are being reminded that M6 junction 19 (Knutsford) and M56 junctions 7 and 8 (Bowdon), as well as the A556 link between the 2 motorways, will close between 9pm tomorrow night (Friday 10  March) and 5am on Monday (13 March).

The new £192 million dual carriageway opened on Monday (6 March) after the second of 3 planned weekend closures took place. These closures have been designed to allow the new road to be tied into the existing motorway junctions. Last weekend’s closures also allowed the old A556 to be sealed off from through-traffic.

This weekend’s finishing work includes installing a concrete safety barrier at the M56 end of the new road.

 Highways England project manager Paul Hampson said:

 “Thanks to some decent weather and a lot of forward planning for these weekend closures we were able to open the road for the first time on Monday morning allowing drivers to start enjoying the benefits of a faster, more reliable connection between the 2 motorways.  We’d like to thank drivers for their patience as we work to complete the project with this weekend’s final 56 hour closure.”

Motorway users will be diverted to alternative junctions to leave or join the M6 or M56:

• Drivers on the northbound M6 heading for Manchester and Manchester Airport will need to stay on the M6, join the westbound M56 at Lymm Interchange (M6 junction 20) and then join the eastbound M56 at junction 10 (Stretton)

• Drivers on the westbound M56 heading away from Manchester and wanting to join the southbound M6 will also need to travel to junction 10 at Stretton – joining the eastbound M56 from there to travel back to Lymm Interchange and access the southbound M6.

Along the old A556, local diversions which will be strictly monitored, will also be in place with access to the A50, Chapel Lane and Mereside Road.  A one way system, travelling southbound, will be in place at Bucklow Hill to allow access for residents and businesses located between the Bucklow Hill and Mere junctions along Chester Road.  Vehicles must use Mereside Road and Chapel Lane to access Chester Road. Traffic marshalls will be at Mere and Bucklow Hill junctions to facilitate the local diversion.   

Over the weekend, only the northbound exit slip at junction 19 of the M6 will remain partially open – allowing drivers to access the southbound, local authority section, of the A556 towards Northwich.

Drivers are advised to build in some extra time for the diversions and to check traffic conditions before setting out on journeys.  Highways England provides live traffic information via its website www.trafficengland.com, local and national radio travel bulletins, electronic road signs and mobile apps. 

Information is also available from Twitter via @highwaysNWEST as well as services in other regions.  Providing they can do so safely, road users can also call the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000 to keep up to date with road conditions.

The new road is part of a £15 billion government investment in motorways and major A roads by 2021 which is being delivered by Highways England as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.


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