Swathes of north Manchester and Prestwich were gridlocked today (September 27) by a motorway closure which pushed dozens of motorists onto residential roads, resulting in 'horrendous' bottle necks.
Residents of Heaton Park and Prestwich told the M.E.N they saw their journey times more than double - and in some cases triple - in the wake of the M60 closure, which National Highways said allowed the removal of five overhead gantries as part of the ongoing Simister Island upgrade.
Closure details and roadworks
The works at the junction where three motorways meet meant that the M60 was shut between junctions 17 (Whitefield) and 18 (Simister Island) from 8pm on Saturday (September 25) until 6am on Monday (September 28).
The stretch of motorway, estimated to carry 90,000 vehicles every day, is being widened, with works underway to add a new loop lane designed to reduce the number of cars using a traffic-controlled roundabout to travel between the M60, M62 and M66. It's hoped that the works, estimated to be completed by 2029 and cost almost £300 million, will reduce congestion and travel times at this notorious traffic hotspot. Another weekend closure is due between Saturday October 10 and Monday October 12.
Residents' experiences
One woman the M.E.N spoke to on Sheepfoot Lane said she and her family had 'just decided not to go out' for the duration of the closure. "They've given us a lot of notice, we have had leaflets through the door," she said. "We have had the warning." She said she thought it 'wasn't as bad' as she had feared. "This is just like rush hour," she said, gesturing to the queuing cars. "I thought it was going to be bumper to bumper."
But further down Middleton Road, closer to junction 19, the mood was far less sanguine. Under driving rain, a teeming queue of cars revved and honked. A single-lane queue to turn right onto Sheepfoot Lane stretched for hundreds of metres. All motorway traffic travelling in both directions had been forced to leave the motorway and divert via Prestwich Village, past Heaton Park and then up Middleton Road to get back onto the M60.
Matt Smith, 45, said he had got stuck in the jam while driving to church in Wigan, a journey which normally takes 40 minutes there and back – but today took him two hours. "I had to use the diversions, I left early but I was almost late," he said. "Coming back via the diversion was a nightmare. I had to come through Swinton and Salford. It's never normally bad on a Sunday. It can get busy when there's an event on in the park but this was unprecedented." Matt said the diversion was 'really annoying'. "It will require a lot more planning on my behalf," he said. "You can't do anything about it but now we know what it's like we're a bit more prepared."
Impact on local journeys
The summary from 74-year-old Mike Lord is succinct. "It was horrendous," he told the M.E.N. "I've just got a new car and I'm trying to take it for a spin but I'm not going to bother. We tried to go to Aldi in Chadderton - we shouldn't have bothered, it took us 20 minutes just to turn onto Middleton Road. We couldn't go to Sainsburys, it was so jammed." The couple were forced to come back via Oldham town centre. "It was completely bottlenecked, it added 45 minutes to our journey," he said. "I knew it was going to be closed but didn't know it was going to be that bad. All the arterial roads are blocked. This is like a Friday afternoon." Mike added that his wife had been looking at properties on RightMove that same day. "We've looked before, it gets pretty bad when Parklife is on," he said. "We've lived here 20 years but we've had enough."
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said it had taken him an hour and a half to drive home from Whitefield that morning. "It's normally a ten minute drive," he said. "We've got three more years of this c**p. It's going to be a pain in the a**e. I'm lucky I don't work far away." Nevertheless, he was sanguine about the roadworks. "They're shutting the motorway, deal with it," he said. "There's not a lot we can do. If they're shutting it, traffic is going to go somewhere." He said he had only learned about the closure through an electronic sign stationed on Middleton Road. "We didn't have any leaflets, they haven't given us enough notice really. I do wonder what they're doing that will take three years. It's annoying that there's traffic and we don't have any way of avoiding it, but it's a fact of life. I just think they could have planned it better."
Ken Freer, 72, has lived near Heaton Park for over 30 years. "I was going to give my son a lift to the tram stop this afternoon...we got to the corner and that was it, nothing was moving. He just got out and went on foot instead. My wife is stuck in Bury at the moment. I'm absolutely browned off about it." Ken said he has hospital appointments at Wrightington Hospital, west of Wigan. "It's really handy being by the motorway, but all this traffic makes you nervous about missing appointments," he said. "I'll have to go at the crack of dawn...then sit there for two hours."
Nicola Eastwell, National Highways project manager, said: "The M60 Simister Island scheme will create extra capacity, improve traffic flows and support future housing, employment and economic growth across the city region. The removal of these gantries is an important next step in delivering the scheme. We understand the inconvenience this work will cause and would like to thank the local community, including road users, for their continued support and patience while we complete this work."
