The advanced M6 ‘managed motorway’ work – starting more than a year early - will strengthen and upgrade the hard shoulders between junctions 5 to 8, junctions 10A (M54) to 13 and junctions 13 and 16 (Stoke-on-Trent).

Transport minister, Chris Mole, said: ‘Fiscal stimulus funding from the Department for Transport is enabling the Highways Agency to deliver a total of £400m of accelerated works this financial year.

‘Of this funding, £58m is being invested to allow early work to be carried out on the roll-out of the managed motorway system on the M6.’

Managed Motorways are being delivered as part of the Government’s £6bn investment to improve the strategic road network. The use of the hard shoulder has seen journey times on the M42 around Birmingham reduce by as much as 27% during weekday journeys.

An Agency spokesperson said: ‘Since April 2009 we've seen work start, at least a year earlier than planned, on major improvement schemes as well as on essential maintenance work.

‘As well carrying out upgrading work, such as the installation of safer barriers or carriageway resurfacing, we've accelerated the A46 Newark Widmerpool major project by three years with up to £100m of fiscal stimulus funding.’ She said 75% of payments were being paid within 10 days – ‘and we're encouraging our contractors to push payments through the supply chain to lower tier / sub contractors to further support businesses’.

Main construction work on the M6 will take place between 2010-11. Main construction between J13-16 is proposed for the longer term, after 2015.