Taskforce to tackle M6 motorway congestion

3 days ago

Gina MillsonLancashire political reporter

News image — Repeated closures on the M6 cause gridlock around Preston and Lancaster

Google Sign over the M6 motorway near Preston pointing north to the Lakes, Lancaster and Blackpool and west towards Preston and Longridge at junction 31A. Cars are driving underneath it — Repeated closures on the M6 cause gridlock around Preston and Lancaster

A Lancashire MP said she hopes a new taskforce she has set up will help tackle congestion on the M6 and surrounding roads, following major incidents.

The Ribble Valley MP Maya Ellis set up the group following concerns raised by constituents that crashes and repeated closures have caused gridlock around Preston and Lancaster.

The Labour MP has raised the issue in the Commons, where she told MPs that problems had become "a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence".

Ellis said she accepted there was not money for a lot of big projects - but that the first meeting highlighted some quick fixes, including removing some parts of the central reservation so traffic could be redirected more easily.

Parliament UK Official portrait of Labour MP, Maya Ellis. She has long, straight dark hair and a red top. She is standing in front of a plain dark grey background — Labour MP, Maya Ellis, has raised the issue in the Commons

The Lancashire M6 Partnership of Lancashire County Council, National Highways, Lancashire Police, North West Ambulance Service and Lancashire Fire and Rescue, along with other MPs, will meet quarterly to discuss solutions and put forward bids to the government.

Ellis said the plan was to "bring together all the different people who could potentially feed into solving some of the challenges, both in terms of immediate response, but also the long-term challenges," Ellis said.

"We always seem to have issues on the M6 and then all the surrounding routes get blocked up when there's an accident, and it just felt like something that surely we can solve," she said.

"It's all about what are the more immediate things that we can do, but also starting to get all the right agencies working together so that we can build a case for some of the longer-term asks."

Ellis said there were also "lots of sensible ideas" from people who had contacted her, and that the task force would look into them at future meetings.

On 15 May 2025 a serious collision between a van and a lorry on the motorway between junction 31a and junction 32 caused problem for drivers.

The M6 was also closed the following week by a lorry fire near junction 31, causing delays and congestion as commuters tried to find a way around.

The boss of a Preston bus operator previously called for urgent safety improvements on the M6 after repeated closures caused "severe disruption".

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