National Highways closed two of the three northbound lanes between junction 6 for Horwich and junction 8 for Chorley this morning (August 3) after discovering around 50 metres of barrier damage. Motorists travelling northbound experienced delays of up to an hour during the morning rush hour, with congestion stretching back towards Manchester. Earlier this morning, a spokesperson for National Highways said: "Lanes two and three of the M61 are currently closed northbound between J6 and J8. "Emergency barrier repairs are required due to 50 metres of central reservation barrier damage following a road traffic collision. The disruption affected traffic heading through the Bolton area for much of the morning before conditions returned to normal following the completion of the repairs.