The nightmare of the M60 and why ‘major’ investment is needed

Boltonian Darren told BBC Radio Manchester’s "In the Hotseat" the motorway is "more of a car park than a road". 

Greater Manchester mayor Mr Burnham agreed, saying the Simister Island and the Trafford Park sections are a nightmare.

“It just does not work,” he told host Mike Sweeney.

“The capacity is simply not there, the road layout is not right.

"I have said to Highways England that we need a plan for investment along the M60.”

Mr Burnham said traffic coming onto the ring road causes delays on feeder roads, making things worse.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. (Picture: Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter)

The Mancunian Way and Regent Road regularly see drivers stuck bumper to bumper. 

Safety work on Mancunian Way at the end of October led to long delays.

Regent Road saw a £15m investment to improve traffic flow of traffic and reduce air pollution back in 2019. It remains a pinch point.  

Mr Burnham said Highways England needs to push the government for more cash to improve the M60.

He said queues at junctions are dangerous, with other cars flying past at high speed.

Work to install sections of "smart motorway", Mr Burnham claimed, have caused long delays but have done little to solve the problem.

There are no plans for imminent work on the M60, listeners were told.

But in August, National Highways issued an update on "vital plans" to improve the Simister Island interchange junction.

Plans to ease congestion and make journey’s more reliable at the interchange were announced in March this year.

The transport body says it received hundreds of responses to a public consultation about the plans which concluded earlier this year after yielding “promising results".

If a development consent order application to the planning inspectorate is successful, construction on the project, which is estimated to cost between £207m and £340m, is likely to start in late 2025.

More than 90,000 vehicles use Simister Island as a route to the M60, M62 and M66 on a daily basis, and the transport body is consulting on options for futureproofing the junction to continue supporting needs and economic growth. 

A previous consultation, which took place in September 2020, says respondents in favour of Northern Loop option for the Island – a design that included a new link road to the north of the existing junction.