Traffic on the M66 northbound near Simister Island was briefly stopped after a crash at 8.45am, forcing vehicles to be held between junction four on the M60 and junction three at Pilsworth Road.
The hold-up hit drivers joining the M66 from the M60 and quickly sent queues into the surrounding roads, with long delays reported in Prestwich and Whitefield as the morning commute built up.
Inrix described the situation as all traffic being temporarily held and stationary because of an accident on the M66 northbound from J4 M60 J18 at Simister Island to J3 Pilsworth Road in Hollins, with traffic stopped at around 08:45. That stoppage created the kind of rush-hour delay that can spread fast through a motorway interchange, especially when drivers are trying to filter in from several directions at once.
The incident has since been cleared and traffic has now been released on the M66, but the disruption has not disappeared with it. Traffic remains heavy on the M60 clockwise for drivers approaching Simister Island, congestion is tailing back towards junction 16 at Clifton, and traffic is backing up past junction 17 at Prestwich and Whitefield on the clockwise carriageway.
There are still delays joining Simister Island from the M60 anticlockwise near Heaton Park, leaving the interchange clogged even after the crash itself was dealt with. What caused the collision has not been stated, and for drivers trying to get through the area this morning, the problem now is not the closure itself but the queues it left behind.
