East Lancs drivers face 26 weeks of work on motorway

Lancashire County Council has erected signs to notify motorists about the upcoming work between junctions 10 and 14 of the motorway.

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The project, which has been criticised in some quarters for not including lighting columns, is expected to cost around £6.6 million.

Drivers on both sides of the carriageway, between Burnley and Colne, will have to follow traffic management plans from July 13 until early December.

The current steel barriers in the central reservation will be replaced with a new concrete barrier system, which highways bosses hope will minimise the risk of cross-over accidents and reduce the need for repair and maintenance.

A county council spokesman said: "We'll need to put traffic management in place to allow this work to take place safely and will publicise the full details shortly."

The street lighting will be permanently removed and is due to be switched off before the barrier construction works begin, leaving only junctions and slip roads illuminated in future.

The county council secured £5.1 million of funding for the scheme from the Department for Transport, while the authority will contribute £1.5 million - almost 23 per cent of the total - itself.

County Cllr John Fillis, the county council’s highways cabinet member, said: "I'm grateful to our officers for putting together the strong bids which have secured this extra funding.

"It is a welcome addition to the millions of pounds we are already investing to ensure roads are repaired, streetlights are replaced and our network has the capacity to allow for future growth."

National policy which requires newly-built motorways to use concrete barriers in the central reservation has been in place for a number of years.

The county council hopes that the upgraded barriers will reduce maintenance costs by £20,000 per year, and save another £50,000 per year on replacing damaged barriers following accidents.