An engineering scheme to install concrete central reservation barriers along a 19-mile stretch of the M62 motorway has been scrapped, reportedly on cost grounds.
National Highways said the planned 'barrier upgrade' between junction 20 at Thornham Island for Rochdale and Oldham and junction 25 for Brighouse, in West Yorkshire, has been cancelled after a 'further appraisal of the project'.
The route runs through the Pennines over Saddleworth Moor and features the highest point on a motorway in England, at Windy Hill near Denshaw, Oldham.
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The plan was to replace the current steel central reservation barrier with a continuous concrete barrier along the entire route. It's steel all the way through the stretch and will remain so unless new plans are unveiled in the future.
Making the announcement, National Highways said safety was its 'top priority' and 'future options' for the stretch of the M62 would be considered.
It's understood a degree of preparatory work had already started, although the announcement will mean no roadworks on the key motorway route into Yorkshire and beyond from Greater Manchester.
The section of motorway - which often leaves motorists battling driving rain and high winds - was supposed to become a 'smart motorway'.
But the Government announced last month that plans for all new smart motorways would be cancelled in recognition of the 'lack of public confidence felt by drivers and cost pressures'.
That followed an announcement in January last year to pause the rollout of new, all-lane running smart motorways yet to start construction. The M62 junction 20 to 25 upgrade is one of the smart motorway schemes now cancelled.
The Government and National Highways said they would continue to invest £900 million in further safety improvements on existing smart motorways, and to give motorists clear advice when using them.
Smart motorway projects on the M56 between junctions six and eight, and on the M6 between junctions 21a and 26, will be completed as they are already more than three quarters constructed, said National Highways.
National Highways Project Sponsor Nick Wells said: "The planned barrier upgrade on the M62 between junctions 20 and 25 has been cancelled after a further appraisal of the project.
"Safety is our top priority and we will consider future options for this stretch of motorway in due course."
The stretch of motorway remains a conventional motorway with a hard shoulder.
The Government announced on April 15 the cancellation of planned projects to build all-lane running (ALR) smart motorways, which use the hard shoulder as a live traffic lane.
ALR smart motorways boost capacity at a lower cost than widening roads. But there have been long-standing safety fears following fatal incidents in which vehicles stopped in live lanes without a hard shoulder were hit from behind.
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