[H]ighways England is making £1.6 million of improvements along a 2 mile section of the motorway at Killington between junction 36 and junction 37.
Although thankfully no lanes along this section of the M6 have had to close during heavy rain, Highways England has identified it as an area which would benefit from further resilience during severe weather incidents in Cumbria.
Highways England project manager Nichola Capstick said: “This is the first of 2 phases of work to increase severe weather resilience and provide more reliable journeys for drivers along this stretch of the M6 – by firstly improving drainage and then improving the carriageway itself.
“We’ll be doing most of the work during the day and while the lane closures are unlikely to inconvenience motorway users we do appreciate that drivers like to know what work we are doing behind closed lanes.”
The work, which involves improving drainage in the hard shoulder and central reservation, started on Sunday (17 June) and is expected to be completed in September. New central reservation safety barriers are also being installed.
While the work requires the closure of a single lane in each direction of the motorway, it is not expected to cause any inconvenience to drivers as traffic flows are lower along this stretch of the M6.
A second phase of work involving carriageway resurfacing will complete the project but dates for this will be confirmed nearer the time.
Last year, Highways England delivered £7 million and £1 million improvements along the A66 at Bassenthwaite Lake and A590 at Lindal-in-Furness to increase flood resilience along those roads.