COMMUTERS travelling from Warrington to Manchester along the M56 are being warned of disruption from next month.

This is due to the start of the second phase of National Highways’ £85million upgrade of the motorway, which will commence next month.

The four-mile section of motorway between junction six at Hale and junction eight at Bowdon is one of the busiest in the north west, carrying 100,000 vehicles a day.

As well as installing technology to help provide smoother journeys, National Highways is converting the hard shoulders to add an extra running lane to both the westbound and eastbound carriageways.

The project was due to be completed next spring, but National Highways says that in line with promises it has made to the Government and Transport Select Committee, stopped vehicle detection technology will now be added to the road before the new lanes can open.

Clare Bond, M56 motorway upgrade project manager at National Highways, said: “Good progress is being made on this upgrade, and we are committed to implementing the recommendations of the Government stocktake before the scheme opens fully.

“This means it will include stopped vehicle detection technology.

“We are grateful for everyone’s patience while we complete this work, and we expect the upgrade to be fully open next autumn.”

A new central reservation concrete safety barrier, technology to help manage traffic and low noise surfacing will have been installed months before the extra lanes open to drivers though.

This mean that motorway users will be able to benefit from smoother and safer journeys by the end of next year.

Work is taking place next month to install traffic management measures to allow the conversion of the westbound hard shoulder to start.

A contraflow arrangement used during phase one will be switched, carrying one lane of westbound traffic along one of the eastbound lanes of the motorway.

The hard shoulder along the eastbound carriageway will be in use as the eastbound lane one, complete with new lower noise surfacing.

The extra running lane on each carriageway will tackle congestion and provide more reliable journeys for city centre commuters and businesses, as well as tourists and workers using the airport.

Four emergency areas will provide a place to stop in the event of break downs or other emergencies.

Once the westbound hard shoulder has been converted into a running lane a third project phase will see the construction of a concrete central reservation barrier.

To start the second phase of the project, there will be three successive overnight closures of the eastbound carriageway between junctions seven and five from Monday, October 4.

Work to switch the contraflow arrangements and start the conversion of the westbound hard shoulder will also require nightly overnight closures of the westbound carriageway from junction five to seven for most of October from Thursday, October 7.

The M56 junction five exit slip for Manchester Airport will remain open.

A diversion using the M60, M62 and M6 will be in place for drivers heading westbound beyond junction five.