M62 escape route

Drivers on the M62 will get help to escape long queues after serious incidents with a new motorway gate between the three-mile Milnrow and Saddleworth stretch.

The Highways Agency has unveiled a £490,000 project to install six more emergency crossover gates between key junctions along motorways in the region — with the M62 getting a gate for the first time.

The 52ft contraptions are designed to allow access between carriageways protected by the continuous central barrier.

The gates will be used to free trapped traffic when major incidents block a carriageway, so vehicles can be turned around from the incident using one or two lanes along the opposite carriageway.