Plans to alter the major motorway junction at Simister Island have taken a step forward as the Planning Inspectorate has confirmed it has accepted the application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) for detailed examination.
As the M60 Junction 18 Simister Island scheme is a nationally significant infrastructure project, The Highways Agency needed to apply for a DCO for the scheme as required by the Planning Act 2008.
Simister Island Interchange is one of the busiest motorway junctions in the north-west used by around 90,000 vehicles each day. The junction struggles with such high volumes of traffic above what it was designed for, and as a result suffers from congestion and poor journey time reliability.
The project will improve junction 18 of the M60 and facilitate smoother flows of traffic along the connecting motorways, contributing to more reliable and safer journeys into and around Greater Manchester.
