Council secures major £7.5m road boost for M6 junction 16 and A500

 

Cheshire East Council has secured a £7.5m boost which will relieve traffic congestion around junction 16 of the M6 near Crewe.

It is strong evidence of how Cheshire East Council and the Cheshire and Warrington Local Transport Board (LTB) are working hard to bring funding into the region.

The improvement will involve widening all approaches to junction 16 and additional traffic signals on the M6 northbound slip road and A500 approaches. The Highways Agency has indicated this will reduce queuing and delays on approaches to junction 16.

It is one of 58 schemes nationwide which the Highways Agency will deliver to help boost the economy, reduce congestion and improve safety as part of its ‘strategic pinch point’ programme.

And it comes just two weeks after Cheshire East successfully bid for £2.7m of ‘local pinch point’ funding, which will go towards the Basford West spine road which will link the A500 at Shavington with Gresty Road in Crewe.

Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Cheshire East Council and chairman of the LTB, said: “This is more great news for the area and is down to the hard work and lobbying this Council and the LTB does on behalf of the people.

“Our officers work tirelessly to ensure Cheshire East gets the best and we push the Government for more funding now than we ever have – and it is working.

“I am delighted to see the Government takes Cheshire East seriously as a place for investment and understands the need to improve the nation’s highway network.

“One of our key aims is for Cheshire East to have a strong and resilient economy and improving the roads in and around the Borough ensures that we will gain an even greater reputation as an excellent place to do business.

“This will also further our plan to make Crewe an economic powerhouse by 2030 and complements the All Change for Crewe programme.”

The scheme will also improve access to planned employment and other key development sites in Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent and surrounding areas. The improvement has the potential to support the delivery of around 5,800 jobs by 2020.

The work is due to take place in 2014 and be completed by the end of that year.

Now, Cheshire East is waiting to hear whether it has been successful in applying for a further £2.8m of local pinch point funding for a 600 metre-long widening of the A500 on the approach to the M6 at junction 16.

Nationally, the Highways Agency’s 58 schemes – representing an investment of £98m – will remove bottlenecks and keep traffic moving on England’s motorways and major A roads. They will be delivered by March 2015 and will bring an estimated £1.4 billion of economic benefit.