Skip to main content

New UK dual carriageway opening

Drivers in the UK are to benefit from the opening of a new dual carriageway connection. The section of road is a key route for Highways England, improving the connection between junction 19 of the M6 and junction 7 of the M56 motorways. The new A556 Knutsford to Bowdon link road will cut congestion and journey times for drivers in the area. As part of the £192 million project to build the new dual carriageway between, Highways England has remodelled slip roads at Yarwood Heath and Bowdon roundabouts. The
December 20, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Drivers in the UK are to benefit from the opening of a new dual carriageway connection. The section of road is a key route for 8100 Highways England, improving the connection between junction 19 of the M6 and junction 7 of the M56 motorways. The new A556 Knutsford to Bowdon link road will cut congestion and journey times for drivers in the area. As part of the £192 million project to build the new dual carriageway between, Highways England has remodelled slip roads at Yarwood Heath and Bowdon roundabouts.

The new dual carriageway is part of a £15 billion investment by the UK Government in motorways and major A roads by 2021, which is being delivered by Highways England as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

Overnight working will mean that by Monday 26th December 2016, drivers leaving the northbound A556 will have direct access onto the eastbound M56 and motorists leaving the westbound M56 will get direct access onto the southbound A556. This will benefit drivers who had to previously negotiate traffic lights and or Bowdon roundabout. The roundabout will now solely be used by drivers joining or leaving the local road network.

This weekend’s work will also mark the re-opening of the M56 eastbound exit slip road at junction 7 after a 5-month closure - with drivers sent onto the new Bowdon roundabout for access to the southbound A556 or local road network, including the A56 local roads for Bowdon and Altrincham. All the new arrangements will be tied-in to the new A556 dual carriageway ahead of its opening in the spring.

The remodelling of slip road arrangements between the existing A556 and junction 7 of the M56 has involved pairing the existing Bowdon roundabout with a new, smaller roundabout which opened in September. The 2 roundabouts are linked by a new bridge – with the new link roads between the A556 and M56 travelling under this.

Construction of the new A556 link road, between the M56 and the M6, started in November 2014 and is due for completion in spring next year.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • New Zealand link
    May 15, 2012
    A major milestone has been achieved in New Zealand on a major road project that is intended to deal with a major traffic bottleneck in the city of Auckland. The launching gantry team has now installed the last segment of the new northbound viaduct, a key stage in the Newmarket Viaduct Replacement project. There is currently a 1.5m gap between the segments. So, on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December the two viaducts will be cemented together in an 18 hour procedure known as the Stitch. From then until the e
  • Flyover removal completed successfully
    February 15, 2021
    A flyover removal project has been completed successfully in the UK.
  • AECOM secures five contract wins with Highways England
    January 30, 2017
    Global infrastructure services firm AECOM has secured five contracts with Highways England to deliver highway design services across five separate schemes. The contracts, with a combined worth more of than €29 million to AECOM, are part of Highways England’s Roads Investment Strategy announced in 2014 for maintenance, improvements and upgrades to motorways and major A-class roads. AECOM will delivery of multidisciplinary services for the A38 Derby Junctions scheme in northern England. AECOM has als
  • Highways England starts moving on projects for the eastern region
    September 30, 2015
    Highways England has met suppliers and stakeholders to discuss how it will spend more than €2.7 billion to improve roads across the East of England region in the next six years. The work is part of the government’s Road Investment Strategy to triple levels of spending on England’s roads by the end of the decade. Plans include major improvements on the M11, A5 and M1, A1(M), A12, A14, A47 and A428. Roads minister Andrew Jones said the investment is the largest in a generation.