Costain wins consent for £130m M60 Simister Island upgrade
Costain wins consent for £130m M60 Simister Island upgrade
Costain has secured development consent to deliver the £130m rebuild of the Simister Island M60/M62/M66 interchange north of Manchester.
The Department for Transport signed off the long-awaited scheme after a six-month Planning Inspectorate examination, clearing the way for the congestion-busting project.
Costain is not expected to start work until late Summer 2026 and will use compounds already built for its previously shelved M62 project.
As delivery integration partner, Costain and design partner Jacobs will overhaul the busy junction involving complex traffic management to keep tens of thousands of vehicles moving while construction takes place.
Major works plan
-
New free-flow northern loop – a sweeping new link will take drivers directly from the M60 eastbound to M60 southbound without exiting the motorway.
-
M66 realignment – the southbound approach will be shifted to create more capacity through the interchange.
-
Two-lane connector road – a new two-lane free-flow link from M60 northbound to M60 westbound will replace the current single-lane road.
-
Extra capacity on M66 – widening to four lanes through junction 18 to tackle peak-hour bottlenecks.
-
Hard shoulder conversion – between M60 junctions 17 and 18, the hard shoulder will be permanently converted into a live running lane, giving five lanes in both directions.
-
Supporting works – upgrades to drainage, lighting, signage, and signalling to modern standards.
Temporary diversions and phased overnight closures will be required as bridges are widened and the new loop road is tied into the existing carriageway.
The interchange was never designed for current traffic volumes and has become a notorious pinch point on the Greater Manchester motorway network. The redesign will create smoother journeys for commuters and freight traffic linking the M62 Transpennine route, M60 orbital, and M66 towards Bury and beyond.
Comments are closed