Post Opening Project Evaluation M6 Carlisle to Guards Mill Improvement Five Years After Study

This document describes an evaluation of the Carlisle to Guards Mill Improvement project, which aimed to upgrade a former road to motorway standards with goals of improving journey times, safety, environment, and accessibility. The evaluation, conducted five years after completion, employed data collection, site inspections, consultations, statistical tests, and comparisons between forecasted and actual outcomes. Results indicated that the project successfully reduced journey times, collision rates, and driver stress, while also improving safety measures, journey ambience, and environmental factors such as noise and air quality, despite an increase in carbon emissions. The project was economically efficient, with a higher benefit-cost ratio than expected, and aligned with local, national, and regional policies, though traffic flows were lower than forecasted due to the recession. The scheme had a neutral impact on wider economic benefits, heritage, biodiversity, water environment, and physical fitness, but provided improved routes for cyclists and slight improvements in personal security. Overall, the project was considered successful, achieving its objectives with positive impacts on traffic and safety, and providing good value for money without significant negative effects. **This summary was written by an AI model and therefore should not be considered a definitive summary of the report. If you are aware of inaccuracies, please email evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.**

Description

• Lead department: Highways England
• Evaluation stage: A complete evaluation report
• Other departments: No other departments listed
• Evaluation types: Value for money evaluation; Impact evaluation
• Impact methods: Generic research method
• Value for money methods: Cost-benefit analysis
• Grant information: This intervention is not distributing funding via a grant
• Government Major Project information: This intervention is not a major project
• Policies: No policies provided

Event Dates

• Event Name: Publication of final results
• Event date: July 2015

Evaluation Costs

• Cost: Not provided

Evaluation sharing

• Link(s) to published report(s): Yes
• Links to evaluation plans: No link provided
• Links to published evaluations (DEBUGGING): No final report link found.
• Findings: Not provided
• Permission to share confirmed: Yes