WARRINGTON’S UTC college and a charity helping the homeless in the town are amongst groups and organisations benefitting along the M6 Warrington to Wigan corridor as a major upgrade of the motorway takes shape.
National Highways is upgrading the M6 between junction 21a and junction 26 boosting capacity by adding an extra running lane in each direction between the two interchanges and tackling congestion by installing a raft of technology to better manage traffic flows at peak times.
The route includes parts of Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester. And, led by main contractor Costain, some of the 3,100 roadworkers delivering the motorway upgrade have also been lending a hand to local community groups.
Dave Cooke, National Highways’ senior project manager for the M6 upgrade, said: “National Highways relies on the understanding and patience of communities living near our major road schemes. Like the M6 project we’re often working in an area for several years and we like to give something back.
“We set high expectations on our supply chain to help us deliver social value in our improvements and it’s fair to say that Costain and delivery partners have more than risen to the challenge. Everyone’s focused on completing the M6 upgrade next year but staff have still found time to help out in local communities in a multitude of ways.”
The roadworkers’ contribution has been about offering engineering know-how and technical skills including orging links with Warrington UTC – a new-style university technical college for 14 to 16-year-olds focusing on science and engineering skills – with people from the M6 project delivering a variety of careers-focused events like a Meet the Employers and Construction Insight days and work experience placements.
Work in the wider community has included donating more than 300 books to Newton Community Centre’s book recycling fund raising events – as well as mucking in to help repair and repaint parts of the building.
The community centre plays an important role in Newton-Le-Willows and as part of the ongoing relationship with the community centre, M6 project workers used two volunteer days to help repair and repaint parts of the building including a room-for-hire facility which will help raise funds to keep the centre going.
Project staff have also been passing on donations of almost £2,000 to help two charities for the homeless – The Brick, Wigan and Room at the Inn, Warrington – with the cash helping purchase food and other essentials for the two homeless charities which provide emergency food and shelter for homeless people. Costain’s people have already given their time to provide new-skills learning and construction careers help and mentoring to homeless people linked with the charities.
Ann-Marie Morrison, road director at Costain, said:“The M6 upgrade is a complex major infrastructure project that will provide smoother and more reliable journeys for thousands of daily users but we also have a responsibility to ensure that we are leaving a wider positive legacy and deliver social, economic and environmental benefits, above and beyond what is required to complete a project.
“We’ve enjoyed working closely with National Highways and our partners across the supply chain when engaging with local communities. It is through this collaboration that has made it possible to leave a lasting impact to help local people and the planet.”
National Highways’ commitment to delivering social value through its work in operating, maintaining, repairing and improving the country’s motorways and major A roads – and its expectation on suppliers – is set out in its Social Value Plan.
The M6 junction 21a to junction 26 upgrade started in March 2021 and is expected to be completed in spring 2025. As well installing extra technology and adding a lane in each direction along the ten mile stretch of motorway drivers will also be able to use one of up to 22 new emergency areas as a place to stop if they experience a breakdown, with roadside telephones providing a direct link to the regional operations centre. More information on the project, including regular updates, is available on a dedicated webpage.
