As millions of Chinese head home for Spring Festival, volunteers, charity groups and railway companies are helping them on their way. Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the most important occasion in the Chinese calendar. This year it … read more
Drivers will shortly be able to use the new £192 million A556 Knutsford to Bowdon dual carriageway in Cheshire, with the final phase of work starting next month.
Highways England, which is building the new link road between junction 19 of the M6 at Knutsford and junction 7 of the M56 at Bowdon, today detailed the final phase of road works for the project – paving the way for the new road to open in March , providing a faster and more reliable link between the 2 motorways.
View looking north from new A50 bridge – with finishing landscaping and carriageway works underwayFull weekend closures – of the existing A556, junction 19 of the M6 and junctions 7 and 8 of the M56 – are needed and are scheduled to start in mid-February. The closures will allow the old road to be sealed off from through traffic and the motorway junctions to be tied into the new dual carriageway.
Highways England project manager Paul Hampson said:
View from new A50 bridge looking southWe are on course to open the new dual carriageway by the end of March, if not sooner. As well as starting work next month to connect the new dual carriageway to the M6 and M56 link roads, we’ll be using the weekend closures to do some preparation along the existing A556 which will become a B road with much-improved facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.
We’re working hard with partners and stakeholders like the emergency services and Manchester Airport to plan for these weekend closures and to make sure they’ll be well-publicised once the full details are confirmed.
Drivers are being advised the schedule for the final phase of work is dependent on the weather. The schedule currently involves:
Highways England is working with partners and stakeholders such as Manchester Airport, major football clubs and the police to plan for and publicise the road works so drivers can plan journeys affected by the weekend closures. More information and advice will be released nearer the time of the closures.
Alternative view looking north up the new A556Construction of the new A556 link road, between the M56 and the M6, started in November 2014 and is part of a £15 billion government investment in motorways and major A roads by 2021 which is being delivered by Highways England as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.
read moreFrom: First published: 25 January 2017 Part of: Public are encouraged to take part in a consultation for the A19 Testos junction improvement scheme. Local residents, businesses and road users are encouraged to take part in a 5 week statutor… read more
Surveys of opinion can be unreliable. In July 2016 the CBI survey showed a dreadful minus 47, compared to a minus 4 in January 2016. At the time I thought it an odd reading predicting a downturn we would not experience, as time proved to be the case. Today’s survey shows a surge to plus 15 for this January, implying good growth to come. It’s a great turn round in sentiment from ultra pessimism last summer.
More reliable order book figures show plus 15 this January, compared to plus 5 last January. This is a better indicator of more growth to come. Why are some forecasters still expecting a big slowdown?
read moreThe cold winter wind rattled the window frames of Xu Haicheng’s warm, cozy home. Inside sat an unlikely pair surrounded by receipts and papers. Xu’s house guest was President Xi Jinping, and Xi was helping the farmer with his household budget. Xi, who… read more