400 miles of roadworks completed in time for Christmas
Highways England said this week that it will complete or lift 448 miles of roadworks in time for the Christmas getaway, leaving 98% of its 9,534-mile network free of roadworks.
This will help people get away this Christmas and also ensure deliveries get through with as little disruption as possible.
Key schemes which are being completed in time for Christmas include:
• The £191m improvement scheme at Catthorpe junction 19 of the M1, which is used by more than 142,000 vehicles every day.
• Work to upgrade 5.4 miles of the M1 between junction 34 for Meadowhall and Rotherham.
• Junction 35a for the A616 Stocksbridge bypass in Sheffield.
• The Chain Bar junction where the M62 meets the M606, which has been upgraded to include an additional lane.
• The M25 £100m junction upgrade to add extra capacity where the motorway meets the A13 in Essex, near the Lakeside shopping centre and retail park.
Highways England operations director Nick Harris commented:
"This Christmas bank holiday, we're helping drivers with their journeys by clearing roadworks on most of our motorways and major A-roads.
Our traffic officers will also be on patrol working to clear any incidents; the vast majority of which will be dealt with in under an hour.
"We're asking people to be prepared before setting off. Make sure you have everything you need for your journey should there be any delays, check before and during your journey and also make sure you're aware of the signs and signals on motorways."