National Highways give update on project to improve major motorway interchange

Earlier this year, the transport body announced “vital” plans to improve Simister Island interchange, which is used as a route to the M60, M62 and M66 by more than 90,000 vehicles every day.

National Highways says it received hundreds of responses to the plans during consultation which took place in January and February this year.

If successful, the development work is estimated to cost between £207m and £340m and is likely to begin in late 2025.

A spokesperson for National Highways said work on the scheme is progressing that it has now worked through the consultation responses.

They added: “We’ve listened to feedback, incorporating many changes to our design proposals.

“The changes range in scale, from a reduction in land needed for drainage to small realignments of the scheme boundary.

“We undertook a targeted consultation during the summer, to let those affected know about the changes and understand their views.

“We’re currently preparing to submit our development consent order (DCO) application to the Planning Inspectorate and expect to do this in early 2024.

“Our application will include a detailed consultation report which will summarise the consultation findings and explain how they have informed any changes or refinements to the scheme design.”

The report will be available to view following acceptance of the DCO by the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Inspectorate will then examine the application for development consent, with input from interested parties and statutory consultees. The examination period is a maximum of six months.

Following the examination, the Planning Inspectorate will present its recommendation to the Secretary of State for Transport, who will then make the final decision on whether the development consent should be granted.

National Highways says it will carry on working on its detailed design throughout this process and, if our application for development consent is successful, we expect to start construction work in 2025.

Prior to starting any work on-site, its teams will be out in the community sharing our construction timelines and detailed plans.

This will be an opportunity for people to meet the project team and ask any questions they may have.

More details will be shared about these events should our proposals receive a positive decision. In the meantime, regular updates about scheme progress can be found on www.nationalhighways.co.uk/M60Simister-Island.

Anyone with an interest in the scheme can sign up for updates via the webpage to keep up to date with what is happening.