Motorway Threat?

Those members who make use of the M62 near Warrington may have puzzled over the fact that there is a junction 9 and a junction 7 but no junction 8. At last all is revealed, as the Highways Agency publishes its proposals for a new access point.

This is partly a response to the excessive traffic congestion on the roads to the north of Warrington; as the world and his family makes his way to the Gemini trading Estate; Marks and Sparks, Toys 'r' Us, IKEA, etc. The intention is to relieve the pressure of traffic leaving the M62 at junction 9 by bringing it off the motorway at Burtonwood; and enter the trading estate to the west. To achieve this, the carriageway is to be widened for some distance to accommodate the necessary slip roads.

What has this to do with the Sankey Canal? I hear you ask. Well the motorway crosses the course of the canal on an embankment near the maintenance workshops at Winwick Quay. Since the Society aims to restore the canal, the embankment is a large enough obstacle already and we would prefer that it didn't become an even greater one! Fortunately, the viaduct across the main west coast rail route, which is very close to the canal, would be far too costly to widen. Work will therefore only commence to the west of this point with minimal effect on the embankment which is already over the canal.

Thanks to the intervention of the IWA in London with the Department of the Environment, and to the co-operation of Warrington BC's Mike Bailey, we have been able to have very friendly talks with the Agency, and have their assurance that if their works and investigations yield anything of use to our restoration hopes they will assist us as best they are able.

The plan below is a simplification of the detailed map published by the Highway Agency. It shows the existing junction 9, the proposed new access point and the new route into the trading estate to the west. For the road users of North Warrington, the scheme cannot be implemented soon enough.

Peter Keen

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