MOTORWAY contractors and the Highways Agency have defended plans for more roadworks which are likely to cause delays and a summer of misery for thousands of motorists.

The new works on the recently-widened M6 come just nine months after the main scheme was completed at a cost of £37.5 million. Now bumps have appeared in some sections of the road surface.

Simon Morris, project manager for contractors Balfour Beatty, said: "The cost to us is commercially sensitive information and I'm not prepared to give it out."

And Eric Belfield, project director for the Highways Agency, said the final bill had not yet been decided.

The need for more work has been blamed on a number of factors, including the need to complete quickly to avoid disruption to August Bank Holiday traffic and the Blackpool Illuminations, bad weather and problems with materials.

Mr Belfield said there had always been a 12-month "maintenance period" built into the contract and this kind of delay was "not unusual".

"The reality of civil engineering is that there's always a risk element, " he added.

He claimed the work, which will not take place at weekends or on Bank Holidays, will cause "minimum disruption".

The roadworks will start again on April 15 from Junction 30, Blacow, to Junction 32, Broughton, and are due for completion by October 6.

In phase one, lane four will be closed from early Monday morning until approximately 3.30pm each Friday. Extra lengths of lane three will also be closed off outside peak times.

In phase two, from around the end of June, lane one and the hard shoulder will be closed off with some restrictions to slip roads and junctions at off-peak times.

On the night of Saturday, April 20, the whole motorway will be closed in both directions between Bamber Bridge and Broughton to allow a footbridge to be lifted into place near Junction 31, Samlesbury.

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