Castleton bridge, which is almost 60 years old and carries the main railway line over the M62 between Manchester and Rochdale , is being demolished and replaced with a new bridge during two full weekend closures of the motorway in September. National Highways , which operates the M62, is working with Network Rail to ensure the work goes as smoothly as possible but is advising drivers that the two weekend closures will affect cross-Pennine travel plans with the motorway linking Liverpool and Hull as well as Manchester and Leeds. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Yorkshire Evening Post, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
It is the first time in recent memory that the M62, which carries around 120,000 vehicles a day, has been closed for a whole weekend or other extended periods for planned work. Gary Farrell, National Highways’ senior network planner (resilience), said: “Network Rail clearly needs to replace what is an ageing bridge and a critical piece of the railways infrastructure supporting the important Manchester Victoria to Leeds service and other routes. “We’ve been working with staff from Network Rail for many months to plan and publicise this work including the two full weekend closures.
“We are urging drivers to avoid this section of the M62 during the two weekends by delaying journeys or planning alternative routes - but anyone who does need to use the M62 over the two weekends should follow the official diversions and not rely on sat nav advice.” Advertisement Advertisement The motorway will be closed in both directions from 9pm on Friday, September 6 to 6am on Monday, September 9 and from 9pm on Friday, September 20 to 6am on Monday, September 23. Different closure and diversion arrangements will be in place for the westbound and eastbound carriageways.
The eastbound carriageway will be closed from junction 18 of the M62 at Simister Island interchange to junction 20 of the M62 at Rochdale, while the westbound carriageway will be closed between junction 20 at Rochdale and junction 19 at Heywood. The diversion for eastbound drivers will use the strategic road network with drivers from the M66 or clockwise M60 and reaching Simister Island travelling to junction 21 of the M60 at Chadderton where they should then use the northbound A663 (Broadway) and northbound A627M to join the M62 at junction 20. Advertisement Advertisement Drivers diverted off the westbound M62 at junction 20 will be sent back onto the motorway via Middleton - using the southbound A627(M), southbound A664 Rochdale Road and northbound A6046 Hollin Lane, re-joining the M62 at junction 19.
There will also be overnight closures of the M62 in West Yorkshire during the same period between Huddersfield and Brighouse with the westbound M62 closed between junction 25 and junction 24 on Monday 9, Tuesday 10, Wednesday 11 and Thursday, September 12. The eastbound M62 between junction 24 and junction 25 will then be closed on Monday 16, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday, September 18..
