Construction work is to begin on £500 million worth of smart motorway schemes in North West England.

Contractors will begin four projects over the next 18 months, which will see over 100 miles of extra lanes developed across the region's motorways.

Work will start on a three-mile stretch of the M62 near junction 12 this summer. Temporary narrow lanes will be introduced to allow contractors to work at the side of the motorway, and a 50mph speed limit will be needed for the safety of drivers and workers. The roadworks will be gradually extended to junction 10 by the autumn and the smart motorway scheme is due to be completed by spring 2020.

Elsewhere, variable speed limits will also be introduced between junctions 10 and 18 on the M60 later this summer when the remaining section of the North West's first smart motorway goes live, with speed limits remaining at 50mph while the new technology is being fine-tuned. Overnight resurfacing work will continue into the autumn on parts of the M60 once the smart motorway is operational.

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Other schemes taking place in the North West include a 20-mile-stretch of smart motorway on the M6 in Cheshire where construction work is due to be completed by spring 2019, providing 40 miles of extra lanes for drivers. Work will also start in spring next year on a four-mile smart motorway on the M56 near Manchester Airport, and on a 10-mile stretch of smart motorway on the part of the M6 which links the M62 near Warrington to the M58 near Skelmersdale.

In addition, a new 19-mile smart motorway will be created over the Pennines on the M62 between Rochdale and Brighouse. The route will link up with other schemes on the M62 to create almost 60 miles of smart motorway between the North West and Yorkshire, with construction work due to start in autumn 2019.

Mike Bull, Highways England's smart motorways programme manager for the North, said: "Smart motorways have been proven to be effective at tackling congestion, with the smart motorway on the M62 in West Yorkshire saving commuters an average of 30 minutes each week.

"We'll be starting work on four new smart motorways in the North West over the next 18 months and will do everything we can to keep disruption to a minimum, including only closing parts of the motorway overnight when traffic levels are much lower.

"The North West's new smart motorway routes will provide over 100 miles of extra lanes benefiting the hundreds of thousands of drivers who use our motorways every day for commuting, business and leisure."

(LM)