Overnight carriageway closure to set up start of M56 upgrade

Drivers are being reminded that a section of the M56 will be closed overnight from 10pm on Friday (13th November).

The closure – along the westbound carriageway from junction 5 at Manchester Airport to junction 7 at Bowdon – is being used by Highways England to start installing a contraflow lanes system. This will be used from the end of the month when main construction work for the £85 million M56 junction 6 to junction 8 motorway upgrade starts.

The westbound carriageway will re-open from 4am on Saturday morning (14 November). During the carriageway closure there'll be clearly-signed diversions in place for local and longer-distance traffic. Drivers will still be able to use the westbound M56 to access Manchester Airport at junction 5.

The main diversion route will use the clockwise M60, westbound M62 and southbound M6.  There will be similar work taking place using the same diversion route in reverse when the eastbound carriageway is closed overnight on Monday 23 November – again between 10pm and 4am.

Drivers planning to use the M56 during the overnight carriageway closures are advised to plan journeys and follow diversion advice. Highways England provides plenty of live information at www.trafficengland.com or from its 24-7 customer contact centre on 0800 123 5000.

There is also more information on the project webpage with an option to sign up for regular email updates from the project team. The last project news release is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/construction-milestone-for-m56-upgrade