Simister Island: New plans approved in motorway upgrade

The major motorway junction upgrade on the notorious Simister Island will be boosted by the approval of plans for a new compound.

Five lanes of traffic and a new link road will be created at Junction 18 in a bid to ease congestion, following official confirmation by the Department for Transport (DfT) last year.

Simister Island interchange, which connects the M60, M62 and M66 motorways, has long been earmarked for a massive change under National Highways proposals.

The scheme – estimated to cost between £207m and £340m – aims to reduce congestion, improve journey times and create a safer route through what is one of the North West’s busiest motorway junctions.

Approved plans will see a construction compound built next to junction 19 of the M62, which will help facilitate and deliver the overall project.

The project would see a ‘northern loop’ built to stop thousands of vehicles using the current traffic light-controlled roundabout every day.

A five-lane section on both sides of the M60 between Prestwich and Simister (junctions 17 and 18) has been touted as well.

The M66 on the Bury side of the junction would also be widened with new lanes introduced at the interchange and a second lane added from the M60 northbound link.

Progress on the overall Simister Island plan stalled in 2024 when the Transport Secretary called for a spending review into all their major road schemes.

Once official planning approval has been granted and work gets started, the massive scheme is set to support 20,000 new jobs and 7,000 new homes.

After the project was confirmed on September 9, a spokesperson for National Highways said: “This approval grants us planning permission to move forward with work that will deliver smoother, safer and more reliable journeys on the motorways in and around Greater Manchester.

“We will provide a further update on delivery timescales as part of the next Road Investment Strategy, which will be published in March 2026.”