A major motorway will be closed for two full weekends next month as a railway bridge needs to be replaced.
Castleton bridge is located between junction 19 for Heywood and 20 for Rochdale, so the M62 will be closed between these junctions for two full weekends in September.
The bridge has been in place for 60 years and carries the main railway line between Manchester and Rochdale. It needs to be demolished and replaced with a brand new bridge.
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 period for planned work.
The motorway will be closed in both directions from 9pm on September 6 to 6am on September 9, and from 9pm on September 20 to 6am on September 23.
Gary Farrell from National Highways 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.
‘It’s worth noting that as well as working closely to coordinate lane and carriageway closures with Network Rail we have or will be using as many opportunities as possible to complete our own routine maintenance at the same time – reducing the need for our own lane and carriageway closures at other times.
‘We would like to thank motorway users and anyone living along the diversion routes for their patience and support.’
