A key section of the M62 – the country’s main trans-Pennine route – will be closed for two full weekends next month.

The railway bridge over the M62 between junction 19 at Heywood and junction 20 at Rochdale is set to be replaced by Network Rail.

Castleton bridge, which is almost 60 years old and carries the main railway line over the M62 between Manchester and Rochdale, is being demolished and replaced with a new bridge during two full weekend closures of the motorway in September.

This means that no trains will pass over the bridge during construction and vehicles passing through the M62 route will be diverted – with National Highways warning of travel disruption as a result. 

It is the first time in recent memory that the M62, which carries around 120,000 vehicles a day, has been closed for a whole weekend or other extended period for planned work, according to National Highways.

National Highways, which operates the M62, said they are working with Network Rail to ensure the work goes as smoothly as possible.

Drivers have been warned that the two weekend closures will affect cross-Pennine travel plans with the motorway linking Liverpool and Hull as well as the cities of Manchester and Leeds in between.

Gary Farrell, National Highways’ senior network planner (resilience), said: “Network Rail clearly needs to replace what is an ageing bridge and a critical piece of the railways infrastructure supporting the important Manchester Victoria to Leeds service and other routes.

“We’ve been working with staff from Network Rail for many months to plan and publicise this work including the two full weekend closures. We are urging drivers to avoid this section of the M62 during the two weekends by delaying journeys or planning alternative routes – but anyone who does need to use the M62 over the two weekends should follow the official diversions and not rely on sat nav advice.

“It’s worth noting that as well as working closely to coordinate lane and carriageway closures with Network Rail we have or will be using as many opportunities as possible to complete routine maintenance at the same time – reducing the need for our own lane and carriageway closures at other times. We would like to thank motorway users and anyone living along the diversion routes for their patience and support.” 

The motorway will be closed in both directions from 9pm on Friday, September 6 to 6am on Monday, September 9 and from 9pm on Friday, September 20 to 6am on Monday, September 23.

While drivers are being advised to avoid this section of the M62 if possible diversions will be in place.  Due to the timings of the work over weekends, different closure and diversion arrangements will be in place for the westbound and eastbound carriageways – with the eastbound carriageway actually being closed from junction 18 of the M62 at Simister Island interchange to junction 20 of the M62 at Rochdale. 

The westbound carriageway will be closed between junction 20 at Rochdale and junction 19 at Heywood.

The diversion for eastbound drivers will use the strategic road network with drivers from the M66 or clockwise M60 and reaching Simister Island travelling to junction 21 of the M60 at Chadderton where they should then use the northbound A663 (Broadway) and northbound A627M to join the M62 at junction 20.

Drivers diverted off the westbound M62 at junction 20 will be sent back onto the motorway via Middleton – using the southbound A627(M), southbound A664 Rochdale Road and northbound A6046 Hollin Lane, re-joining the M62 at junction 19.

Drivers are also being reminded that there will also be nightly – 9pm to 6am – closures of the motorway in both directions between the two weekend closures. These closures will be in place every night until the second weekend closure of the motorway but between junction 19 and junction 20 in both directions.