The first weekend closure will take place on the eastbound carriageway between 9pm on Friday, 11th January and 5am on Monday, 14th January. A second closure is planned for the westbound carriageway during the last weekend in January. This will be postponed if the upcoming FA Cup draw results in a home match being played by Manchester City or Manchester United during that weekend.

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.”

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.