M621 J1-7 Improvements – Design & Implementation
The challenge
Carrying over 75,000 vehicles per day, the M621 is a predominantly urban motorway, which connects the M62 and M1 to Leeds city centre. The 3.6-mile J1-7 scheme aimed to improve journey time reliability, network resilience, and safety through driver information and operational control via ITS on a severely constrained stretch of urban motorway.
What we did
Physical constraints prohibited standard improvements to road alignments, junction spacing, and the application of ITS. 4way led ITS design and undertook site surveys of pre-existing assets and proposed locations for MIDAS, variable signs and signals, permanent average speed enforcement, telecommunication upgrades, and renewed and enhanced CCTV and ERT provisions. We produced and supported over 60 departures from standards to enable the final design. 4way also applied an innovative approach to compiling the scheme hazard log with specific modifications made to account for non-standard civils and ITS upgrades. We presented to stakeholder groups and successfully progressed the scheme through National Highways governance.
Results
National Highways SES commended our approach to safety risk assessments, while Operations have praised the project delivery team for their consultative approach and value engineered design. Post-opening monitoring helped identify specific localised issues that, while not caused by the scheme, had previously gone underreported, and henceforth empowered stakeholders to take coordinated action to address them. The scheme delivered roads technology that solved operational problems in a tightly constrained environment and improved outcomes measurably for stakeholders following open-for-traffic in September 2024.
Scope
- Technology design and specification
- Operations and safety governance
- Stakeholder liaison
- Departures from standards
- Technical notes and papers
- Risk identification and analysis
- 3D BIM model
- Power distribution design
- Site surveys
- Application of design standards
For more information about this project please contact Craig Clift at info@4wayconsulting.com