Travel warning issued as motorway to close amid major £23m project

Part of a Greater Manchester motorway will shut this weekend as part of a £23 million project. A stretch of the M67, in Tameside, will be closed to complete demolition of the ageing St Anne's Road bridge, in Denton.

It's the latest in a series of closures to hit the motorway in the last two years ahead of the bridge being replaced, in a three-year project which began in January 2023. The motorway will be closed in both directions between junction 1A at Denton and junction 3 at Hyde.

Last month, the same stretch was shut to demolish the main bridge deck, on which vehicles run. This weekend's phase, which is the final part of the demolition, will see part of the supporting structures removed.

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Mangat Bansal, National Highways programme delivery manager, said: “Work to complete the removal of the bridge deck last month went very well and according to plan. We can now undertake this final phase in our demolition works which will involve reducing the height of the abutment walls.

"These will then be modified in preparation for the installation of beams for the new bridge next year. It is imperative we keep the travelling public and our workforce safe.

"To achieve this, we need to close the motorway for the weekend to allow for the heavy machinery needed to undertake this work to be brought in." This weekend, the upper sections of the abutment walls - the supporting structures at either side of the bridge - will be removed removed.

The top section of the towering walls will be cut down into giant 2m concrete cubes, each weighing around 20 tonnes, before being lifted by crane onto transport lorries. The same diversion routes used last month will be in place for this weekend’s closure, with traffic between Manchester and Sheffield advised to travel along the A635 and A6018, past Ashton-under-Lyne and Stalybridge.

"We always strive to minimise disruption to customers, although regretfully delays to journeys are expected," Mr Bansal said. "We therefore advise everyone to plan before they travel and allow extra time to complete their journey.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this work will cause. We would again like to thank the local community, including road users, for their support and patience while we continue our work to provide the new bridge.”