Manchester's Smart Motorways won't be completely finished until Summer 2018
It means the 50mph speed limits will remain in place for a while to come.
Bosses at Highways England say it will be Summer 2018 before work on Manchester's smart motorways is fully complete.
The first sections to open will be a 5 mile stretch of the M62 near Rochdale and a 2 mile stretch of the M60 near the Trafford Centre in October 2017 which will see the removal of the temporary narrow lanes.
The new technology will then be tested to ensure the 100 traffic sensors which have been installed along the 17-mile route are working effectively, before the new electronic variable speed limit signs are switched on from junctions 8 to 10 on the M60 and junctions 18 to 20 on the M62 by the end of the year.
The extra lanes on the M62 are also due to open in time for the Christmas getaway – increasing capacity on the stretch of motorway between Greater Manchester and Yorkshire by a third.
Highways England bosses say some work has been delayed to keep disruption to a minimum and hence work has only be carried out overnight, affecting the overall duration of the project.
Other issues such as needing to relocate unrecorded utility pipes and carrying out additional maintenance work has meant that part of the scheme will need to continue into 2018.
The £208 million Highways England scheme will provide more technology to help keep traffic flowing more smoothly and more capacity, meaning journeys will be more reliable.
A similar smart motorway scheme on a stretch of the M62 in West Yorkshire, which was completed in 2013, has resulted in commuters saving around 30 minutes each week.
Jon Stokes, Senior Project Manager at Highways England, said:
“We will be able to begin a phased opening of the new smart motorway scheme this autumn – benefiting the 180,000 drivers who use the route every day.
“When the smart motorway is complete, drivers will be able to travel in an extra lane on the M62 and variable speed limits will keep traffic moving at a steady speed – tackling the stop/start conditions and tailbacks caused by sudden braking.
“Nearly 600 people are currently working to complete the project and we will open each section along the route as soon as possible.”
The scheme is Highways England’s most complex smart motorway project, affecting the second busiest motorway in the country and covering 13 junctions – an average of one junction every 1.4 miles.
When the smart motorway is complete, traffic sensors will automatically monitor vehicle numbers and adjust the speed limit accordingly. A total of 50 CCTV cameras will also provide 100% coverage of the route, and allow Highways England’s traffic officers and the emergency services to respond quickly to incidents