THE new A556 dual carriageway will finally open for the first time on Monday – but motorists must brace for one more weekend of closures.

The M56 junctions 7 and 8, M6 junction 19 and the existing A556 will all be closed this weekend as work to open the new £192 million Knutsford to Bowdon dual carriageway nears completion.

The 56-hour weekend closure will run from 9pm on Friday March 3 to 5am on Monday March 6.

This weekend’s closure will allow the old road to be finally sealed off to through traffic and for the motorway junctions to be tied into the new dual carriageway. The new road will then be opened to motorists on Monday March 6.

Highways England project manager Paul Hampson said: “We made some excellent progress at the weekend and we won’t need another full weekend closure until next week - as scheduled. Everything is looking promising for the road to open a week on Monday.”

Motorway users will be diverted to alternative junctions to leave or join the M6 or M56 during the closure.

Drivers on the northbound M6 heading for Manchester and Manchester Airport will need to stay on the M6, join the westbound M56 at Lymm Interchange (M6 junction 20) and then join the eastbound M56 at junction 10 (Stretton).

Drivers on the westbound M56 heading away from Manchester and wanting to join the southbound M6 will also need to travel to junction 10 at Stretton – joining the eastbound M56 from there to travel back to Lymm Interchange and access the southbound M6.

Over the weekend, only the northbound exit slip at junction 19 of the M6 will remain partially open – allowing drivers to access the southbound, local authority section, of the A556 towards Northwich.

Drivers are advised to build in some extra time for the diversions and to check traffic conditions before setting out on journeys. Highways England provides live traffic information via trafficengland.com.

The new road and the motorway junctions will be closed for finishing works during the project’s third and final full weekend of closures between 9pm on Friday March 10 and 5am on Monday March 13.

Construction of the new A556 link road, between the M56 and the M6, started in November 2014 and is part of a £15 billion government investment in motorways and major A roads by 2021 which is being delivered by Highways England as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.