M6 motorists face more delays

M6 motorists face more delays

The motorway carries about 150,000 vehicles a day

Roadworks on one of the busiest stretches of motorway in the North West could be extended by two years.

Repairs to the Thelwall Viaduct on the M6 in Cheshire were meant to be finished by Easter, but now engineers have found further problems.

The two bridges carry traffic over the Manchester Ship Canal and are used by about 150,000 cars a day.

The northbound bridge was closed in July last year when cracks were discovered in its rollers.

Traffic was diverted on to the southbound bridge and speed limits were put in place.

Now the Highways Agency has admitted that the work is more extensive than it first thought.

Testing has revealed more faults in the 136 roller bearings which support the carriageway and the engineers say the only safe option is to replace all of them.