Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of upgrading to a smart motorway the M56 adjacent to junctions six and seven; and what assessment he has made of the effect of upgrading that stretch of motorway on (a) safety and (b) journey times.

The latest estimate for the cost of the M56 junction 6-8 smart motorway scheme is between £62m - £120m.

The economic assessment for this scheme indicates that it will lead to an overall reduction in collisions and casualties on the network over the 60 year appraisal period. Traffic modelling indicates that the scheme will divert vehicles from the surrounding road network, releasing the pressure on that network. This will improve journey time reliability and contribute to a reduction in the number of people killed and seriously injured (KSIs) on the road network as a whole.

This scheme is also expected to deliver journey time savings in both directions.