This letter was received by local residents:

12th June 2009

Dear XXXX

M60 Jcts 15 -12 LANE GAIN

Thank you for your letter & E-mail dated 23^rd May to the Secretary of State for Transport /Highways Agency on the above scheme. As Project Manager for this scheme it has been passed to me to reply on his behalf.

The proposal to add a lane anti-clockwise within the existing highway boundary was first identified out of a previous Multi Modal Study, which assessed various solutions to the congestion on the M60 between junctions 12 and 18. The Study explored a broad range of options and concluded that an additional lane on the ariti-clockwise carriageway between junctions 15 and 12 was needed to remove the bottleneck as the motorway narrows to 3 lanes from Junction 15 where the M61 joins the M60, to Junction 13.

In January 2009, within the Motorways and Major Trunk Roads announcement, the Highways Agency was asked to progress the M60 J15-12 Lane Gain project. The project was identified with a target Start of Works date of summer 2010.

The main objectives of the scheme are to relieve congestion; improve journey time reliability by better managing traffic flow conditions; improve safety by reducing driver stress; whilst protecting the built and natural environment through mitigating the potentially adverse impact of adding additional capacity, meeting current environmental standards and taking opportunities to enhance poor environmental features where appropriate and taking into account value for money.

Following the public exhibition a number of concerns have been raised by local residents regarding the impacts of the project which I set out below:

1. Concern about the safety of vehicles travelling closer to the highway boundary and whether the proposal to introduce narrow lanes would be safe, for Heavy Goods Vehicles especially.

The proposals to introduce narrower lanes have been introduced successfully on a number of other sections of the Motorway network and have been running for a number of years on the clockwise carriageway between junctions 12 and 15. The Highways Agency will assess the safety impacts of scheme design carefully, with standards being checked by a separate specialist team. The Highways Agency is also liaising with local police to confirm that the proposals are appropriate to driver behaviour in the area.

Where properties are the closest to the motorway, between J13 and J12 the Highways Agency is looking at the feasibility of adjusting the central reservation width so that traffic would not run closer to the boundary.

2.   Concern about the noise and air quality impacts, and whether mature tree screening and noise mitigation fencing would have to be removed.

The scheme is within the current Highway boundaries and will not require Highway Orders affecting private land. Detailed site surveys will be carried out to assess the environmental impacts, and the Highways Agency will aim to minimise environmental impact.

Experience shows that improving traffic flow has a beneficial impact on emissions.

Environmental surveys and traffic rnodelling are being undertaken to assess air quality impacts.

The Highways Agency is currently at the outline design stage which does not provide the level of detail requested by some of the residents. However more surveys are taking place and alongside the feedback from residents and road users will inform the scheme scope. The Highways Agency is fully aware of, and understands residents’ concerns about retaining existing noise fencing and mature trees and is looking at a number of possible configurations of the carriageway to try to minimise the impacts.

3.   Whether the M60 lane  gain proposals may be part of a larger project with bridge widening and other major alterations planned in future.

The M60 Junction 15-12 lane gain project is being progressed as a stand-alone improvement to address the congestion problems on that stretch of motorway. No other major improvement projects have been prioritised for the M60 J12-J18 within the Department for Transport's Roads Programme (currently programmed up to end of 2014).

The January 2009 announcement on Motorways and Major Trunk Roads identified the feasibility to implement Hard Shoulder Running (HSR - allowing traffic to use the hard shoulder in controlled conditions at congested times) at several locations nationally, following  successful introduction on the M42.

The M60 Junctions 8-15: and the M62 J18-20 were identified in the January 2009 announcement as possible locations for HSR to be implemented within the next two years subject to further assessment work. The M60 Junction 12-18 was also identified as a potential location to introduce HSR in future, but only in the longer term, beyond 2014.

4.   Whether the project proposals take into account the Salford Forest Park and Port Salford developments.

The scheme is being undertaken to improve the merge between the M61 and M60 and is not being undertaken to support the Port Salford and Salford Forest Park Developments. However, projections for future traffic growth and traffic behaviour on the scheme would factor in the Salford Forest Park Development project, and these future traffic projections would inform the design of the scheme.

5.   How residents will be kept informed about the project.

The project team are currently progressing with detailed site surveys. Most site surveys will be completed by autumn and the environmental assessments and traffic modelling by the end of the year. The detailed design is currently planned to start in January 2010 with construction planned to commence in summer 2010 and be completed by winter 2011.

The Highways Agency plan to provide information on the development of the project to residents via newsletter on a quarterly basis. The newsletter will inform residents of what stage the scheme is at, and provide more information on the main issues they have raised to date. The newsletter will also be published on the Highways Agency's website at www.highwavs.gov.uk/roads/projects/23003.aspx.

Please be advised that your comments and concerns have been noted and will be taken into account where possible during the design stage of the scheme, and we would like to thank you for your comments.

Yours sincerely

Manuelle Salathe (Ms)

Project Manager

Major Projects North

Highway Agency

City Tower

Manchester M1 4BE

IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS LETTER OR SIMILAR PLEASE CONTACT US.

WE WOULD ALSO BE INTERESTED TO HEAR YOUR VIEWS ON THIS LETTER.

DID YOU ATTEND THE CONSULTATION EVENT AND DID YOU ASK SOMETHING THAT THE HIGHWAYS AGENCY DID NOT REPLY TO YOU ABOUT?