Every time I get in my car to leave Manchester after a lovely night out lately, my heart sinks. Not because I'm leaving our beloved city, but because I dread the frustrating journey that's about to unfold on the route home via the M56.
For the past two years now there have been roadworks on the South Manchester and Cheshire stretch of the M56 to turn it into a "smart motorway" between Junctions 8 and Junctions 6. I can just about cope with the narrow lanes and 50mph speed limits during the day - but the night-time closures of the route are starting to send me just a little bit round the bend.
At first it wasn't too bad, it just seemed to be a closure of Junction 7 at Bowdon - that meant I could nip off a junction earlier and navigate the country lanes of Wilmslow. But in recent times they've shut that junction too. And then the one before that as well.
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Never mind, I thought, I can just keep going to the junction after and nip across back to the M6 and get on at Junction 20 on the M6 that way. Until someone, somewhere, decided to shut THAT junction off too.
And trust me, the last thing you want to be doing at midnight is try to negotiate the never-ending roundabout Groundhog Day of Warrington.
Things really came to a head over the weekend - with a full closure of both directions on the M56. It left motorists who needed to get in and out of Manchester on a diversion route round the M60 and M62 that racked up something like 30-odd miles extra and at least half an hour on top of your usual journey.
It's almost like the powers that be don't want anyone east of Wythenshawe to come in and enjoy all the pleasures of Manchester of a night time at all. It's honestly become that much of a stress when driving late at night that it's made me think twice about agreeing to attend events in town, knowing that the M56 is my fate afterwards.
Frustrating doesn't quite cover it for me. And before you say "why don't you just get the train"? Well actually many of these car trips into town at night-time have been as a result of last-minute train cancellations where I've been left with no option but to drive instead.
And when it comes to the "regular" overnight closures, I got caught a right cropper on my last attempt to drive home earlier this month. The M56 was closed eastbound again, and I had to dive off just before Wythenshawe in an area I'm not knowledgeable enough to navigate the back roads of.
So I thought OK this time I'll have to just follow the yellow signposted diversion. Until, that is, I realised it was taking me BACK down the M56 on the other side, and seemingly wanted to take me off down the M60 and M62 back to the M6 - a diversion of around half an hour and 15-odd miles by my reckoning.
I instead whizzed back off at Wythenshawe to try and find my way to Altrincham to the A56 and get back on the Bowdon roundabout that way. I feel truly sorry for anyone who really doesn't know the area who ends up attempting to following the "signposted" diversions, I really do.
Anyway, I thought I'd bring any of you feeling as miffed as I am about the M56 a little bit of good news. Because I've checked with the powers-that-be this week just how long this nightmare will carry on for.
And the good news? They're on course to finish in "Autumn 2022". They've also confirmed that the weekend closures of last weekend (September 10/11) WILL be the last full road closures of this project.
I can't get too excited just yet as they've also told me that the night-time closures will, I'm afraid, still be happening potentially right until the end of the project. But hang on, aren't we in Autumn 2022? Well, yes we are.
But at least it (hopefully) means the roadworks will finally be complete by the end of November at the very, very latest. It might even mean some blissful late night shopping trips over Christmas, without worrying about the diversions afterwards. Just imagine that.
And how will it all look at the end of this two-year process? Well we've begun to see this week some of the roadworks being taken down along the route ready for it becoming a four-lane superhighway. The new speed limit boards are also up and in place, ready to flash up the flexible speed limits that will be introduced according to the traffic flow.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency has also confirmed that: "As is usual with these types of projects the newly-upgraded motorway will operate with the extra lane in each direction with a maximum speed limit of 60mph for a short time to allow final systems testing. "
He added: "There are no further full carriageway closures planned either on a weekend or weekday overnight. The works programme has always included regular overnight carriageway closures of either the e/b or w/b carriageway.
"We’ve had very few issues with these carriageway closures and have had regular dialogue with key stakeholders such as Manchester Airport (with regards to shift workers and air passengers). The project produces a fortnightly list of forthcoming roadworks which is shared with anyone who wants it."
Will the completion of this new smart motorway ease congestion in and out of Manchester in the long term? Well, we can all live in hope.
I'll just be grateful to see the back of those orange cones and dreaded bright yellow diversion signs as we all head into 2023.
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