Two-hour M6 delays as crane breaks down on smart motorway roadworks
Drivers faced two-hour delays on the M6 this morning after a broken crane meant roadworks were not fully lifted until four hours later than planned.
The the motorway should have reopened at 6am but instead the northbound section remained shut at Junction 14 until shortly before 10am.
Traffic was heavily congested 10 miles back to Junction 12 at Gailey as a result.
The lorry-mounted crane broke down while working on the long-running scheme to upgrade the road to a smart motorway and was not able to be recovered until after 9am.
Meanwhile a stretch of the M5 was also closed northbound after a man's body was found this morning.
A Highways England spokesman said during the closure: "There are severe delays on the M6 northbound in Staffordshire due to overnight roadworks which are overrunning due to a Hiab (lorry-mounted crane) which has broken down within Junction 14 near Stafford.
"Recovery agents are in attendance working hard to repair the vehicle so the road can be reopened as quickly as possible.
"The carriageway is fully closed within Junction 14, with traffic diverting around the closure via the exit and entry slips.
"There's over nine and a half miles of congestion, with average journey times now taking an hour and a half longer than normal for this time of day.
"If you're heading from further afield and intending to travel to the North West, then you may wish to consider using the M1 northbound, exiting at J24 and take the A50 eastbound to rejoin the M6 at J15.
"Please allow plenty of extra time for your journey this morning."
