The Sharston Link stretch of the M56 near Manchester is to be upgraded over the next five weeks as part of a project to make it smoother and safer for the 90,000 drivers who use it every day.

The project, which begins on Wednesday, January 9, will see Highways England improve the two-mile stretch of the M56, between junction 3 of the M60 at Cheadle and junction 3a of the M56 at Wythenshawe.

The work will include resurfacing the entire route, repairing sections of the carriageway, replacing road markings, and installing new reflective road studs and traffic sensors.

Repair work will also be carried out on a bridge which carries the motorway over a railway line.

Most of the work will take place overnight to keep disruption to a minimum, with diversions in place when sections of the motorway need to be closed.

Two weekend closures – between 9pm on Friday, January 11, and 5am on Monday, January14, and on the last weekend on January - will also be needed to carry out structural repairs to the motorway.

The diversion route for the weekend closures will take drivers along the M60 to turn around at junction 5 as well as on the A5103 Princess Parkway.

Rob Williams, project manager at Highways England, said: “The upgrade we’re planning for the M56 will result in much smoother and safer journeys for the rest of 2019 and beyond.

“We’re doing everything we can to minimise disruption but will need to close parts of the motorway during two weekends for major road reconstruction work.

“We’ve chosen two of the quietest weekends of the year to carry out the work but are still advising drivers to allow extra time for their journeys, especially if they’re heading to Manchester Airport for a winter getaway.”