Motorway safety work nearly complete

Speed restrictions and roadworks on the M65 are due to be removed by Lancashire County Council in the coming week.

Work has been taking place since last July to upgrade safety barriers on the central reservation and next to the hard shoulder between junctions 10-14.

The purpose is to minimise the possible severity of future incidents, particularly by reducing the risk of accidents where vehicles crash through the barriers into oncoming traffic on the opposite side of the motorway.

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A 50mph speed limit is currently in place from junctions 10 to 13 for workers’ and road users’ safety.

The restrictions and roadworks are due to be removed on the westbound side of the motorway overnight on Friday 29 April, with this side of the road from J10 to J13 being closed from 8pm until 5am on Saturday morning. It had been planned to carry out this operation overnight on Thursday but the work has been delayed until tonight due to a forecast for snow.

Weather permitting, the restrictions and roadworks on the eastbound side are due to be taken off overnight on Thursday May 5th, with this side of the road from J10 to J13 being closed from 8pm until 5am on Friday morning.

Signed diversions will be in place during the closures.

David Johnnie, area highways manager for Lancashire County Council, said: “We’d like to thank everyone for their patience while we’ve carried out this vital maintenance over recent months.

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“It has taken a little longer than originally expected as we have encountered difficult ground conditions, which has meant doing extra work to ensure the new barriers can be properly secured.

“We’re now ready to remove the roadworks and speed restrictions, which will be done overnight to minimise disruption as far as possible.

“There are still some minor works to be finished, but this will be managed using localised lane closures and concentrated on slip roads at junctions.”

The county council has also taken the opportunity to improve drainage and make repairs to the road surface and fencing while the roadworks for the barrier replacement work have been in place.