It was supposed to ease mayhem at one of Greater Manchester's most notorious traffic hotspots... now it hangs in the balance

The future of a scheme aimed at improving one of the most congested motorway junctions in the north west is up in the air. Scores of motorists on the M60 have themselves stuck in traffic near Simister Island at junction 18. Simister Island Interchange connects the M62, M60 and M66, with drivers able to travel towards Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and Yorkshire.

The junction is one of the busiest in the north west, used by around 90,000 vehicles a day - far more than it was designed to cope with. In March 2020, the government’s second Road Investment Strategy included a commitment for Highways England, now known as National Highways, to improve the interchange.

National Highways revealed details of their plans to tackle the notorious motorway interchange back in March 2023. They hoped it could start as early as 2025, estimating it would cost between £207m and £340m.

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Following the Budget announcement yesterday (October 30), all transport projects are under review, due to what the government describes as a '£22bn blackhole’. The Simister Island scheme wasn’t axed during the speech in the House of Commons - like other projects - but chancellor Rachel Reeves didn’t confirm it was happening either.

The government has commissioned an internal review of the Department for Transport's capital spend portfolio, which will inform a long-term strategy. It means the Simister Island project could go ahead as planned, but it could also look very different from the original proposals if changes or spending cuts are deemed necessary.

The original plan tabled by National Highways would see the construction of a new free-flow link (northern