M56 drivers are being encouraged to plan their journeys accordingly over the weekend as part of the motorway will be closed for repair work.
Demolition work will be underway on the M56 near Runcorn in Cheshire as a £27 million project to replace the A533 bridge nears completion.
The motorway will be closed in both directions from 9pm on Friday (May 19) until 6am on Monday (May 22) between junction 11 and 12.
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It follows similar closures last weekend as workers began to remove the old bridge, which is sandwiched between the new one and the West Coast railway bridge.
“We’d like to thank motorway and local road users for their continued patience and support over the weekend while the M56 and new bridge were closed,” National Highways project manager Sam Whitfield said.
“We’ve been telling people for some time this final phase of the project would need to be done over two weekends - and while there’s never a good time to close a motorway these dates were carefully chosen to avoid disrupting people’s journeys during this month’s bank holidays.
“With the motorway and new bridge closed again this weekend, we’re urging drivers to plan ahead, check for congestion on the diversion routes before setting off and leave a little bit of extra time for journeys – or avoid this section of the motorway altogether if possible.”
The new bridge opened to traffic for the first time on Monday, April 17, which was built as a way of future-proofing the motorway connection for commuters.
Clearly-signed diversions for both the bridge and motorway closures will be in place with full information available on the dedicated project webpage
Drivers are advised to check traffic conditions before setting out on journeys.
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