PART of the M60 motorway will be closed at night in the next three weeks as part of ongoing roadworks.

In July, the Highways Agency began a project to change a 17-mile stretch of road from the M60 at Sale to the M62 at Rochdale to make it run more smoothly.

Work is due to finish in late 2017.

From 10pm on Monday until 5am on Tuesday, the anti-clockwise road between junction 16 for Swinton and junction 14 for the East Lancashire Road will be closed and signs will divert motorists.

A Highways Agency spokesman said more overnight closures will follow over a three-week period, though no details of the other closures have been announced yet.

The spokesman added: “We have pledged to keep all of the lanes on the motorway open during the daytime for the entire smart motorway project, but it needs to introduce narrow lanes using night-time closures to make this happen.

“Contractors will now introduce narrow lanes and a steel safety barrier on the stretch between junction 15 at the interchange with the M61 for Bolton and junction 8 of the M60 near Sale, using a series of overnight closures over the next three weeks.”

The project manager, Stephen Greenhalgh said: “We’re doing all we can to keep the impact of the smart motorway work to a minimum and we’ll be able to keep all of the lanes open by introducing narrow lanes from next week.

“The closures will be taking place overnight when far fewer people will be using the motorway, so that drivers can continue to travel on the M60 as normal during the day.

“We’re now six months into the smart motorway project and work on the scheme is progressing well.

“A 50 mph speed limit is already in place on the 17 mile smart motorway route for the safety of workers and road users, adding less than six minutes to the average journey time.”