Balfour Beatty lands £184m deal to turn M60 and M62 into smart motorways

Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty has been awarded a £184m motorway scheme to upgrade 17 miles of the M60 and M62 to a smart motorway.

At the height of the project 1,000 construction workers will be employed. The upgrade is expected to cut congestion, increase capacity and reduce journey times for motorists.

It will be delivered under the Highways Agency National Major Projects Framework. Balfour Beatty's construction business will lead the delivery of the project but will collaborate with three other businesses.

Between junctions 8 and 12 the M60 will be upgraded to a controlled motorway. Traffic will be managed by technology interventions which will be responsive to the volume of traffic on the network. 

The M62 between junctions 18 and 20 will become a four-lane, all lane running motorway by changing the hard shoulder for constant use, as well as using electronic signs to regulate traffic.

Work is set to begin in July with completion scheduled for autumn 2017.

"This scheme will benefit the 180,000 road users that pass through this section of the motorway network every day. We are committed to lead this project in a collaborative way with our partners, employing local people and businesses in our supply chain", said Balfour Beatty executive chairman Steve Marshall.