M6 MOTORWAY

:''This article concerns the M6 motorway in England. There are also M6 motorways in Russia (see Caspian Highway), Hungary (see M6 motorway (Hungary)) and the Republic of Ireland (see N6 road).''
The 'M6 motorway' is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It runs from a junction with the M1 near Rugby in central England, passes near Coventry, through Birmingham and near the major cities of Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Liverpool and Preston, and runs to the north of Carlisle, close to the Scottish border.
In addition to being the longest motorway in Britain, it runs through the heart of Cumbria and the Lake District
It is often claimed to be the busiest motorway in the country, although the M25 may also lay claim to this dubious distinction, depending on the measurement used. It is also sometimes referred to as the "Backbone of Britain" as it forms part of the central road corridor between Glasgow and London, connecting Scotland and the industrial North of England to the financial and governmental heart of the country in the South East.
From the M1 to the M6 Toll split near Birmingham, the M6 is part of the unsigned E-road . joins the M6 Toll from the M42 and then uses the M6 to its north end at Carlisle, where it continues along the M74.

Contents

History and curiosities

Hauntings

M6 Toll

Future developments

Widening between J11a and J19

History of the proposal

A556(M)

"Cumberland Gap"

Legislation

Junctions

M6 Motorway in culture

See also

External links

History and curiosities

The first section of the motorway, and indeed the first motorway in the country, the Preston by-pass, was built by Tarmac Construction and opened by the then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on December 5,1958. In subsequent years the motorway was extended piecemeal in both directions and is now 230 miles (370 km) long.
Junction 6 in Birmingham is widely known as Spaghetti Junction because of its complexity..
On the elevated ground between Shap and Tebay, the north and south-bound carriages split apart. Uniquely, at this point a local road (to Scout Green) runs between the two carriageways without a direct link to the motorway.
The section of the M6 which runs over Shap Fell in Cumbria is 1050 ft (320 m) above sea level, one of the highest points on any motorway in the UK (junction 22 of the M62 on Saddleworth Moor is higher). The West Coast Main Line railway follows the same course, and in places runs alongside the M6 for much of its length.
The northbound entry slip road at Lancaster North is unusually short, presenting problems for traffic joining the motorway. The M6 crosses the River Lune at this point and unless the bridge had been made wider, there was no space to build a longer slip road.
The route was intended to replace the old A6, but a much closer approximation to the actual route of the M6 is provided by following the route: A45, A34, A50, A49, A6.

Hauntings

The M6 is reputed to be the most haunted road in Britain, in a study performed on behalf of Tarmac, the roadbuilding company. As reported in ''The Guardian'' newspaper, 'The survey's results also include more traditional scenes of hauntings such as the A9 in the Highlands of Scotland, where a stagecoach with bewigged footmen has appeared to a succession of drivers. Other reports include eyes peeping out of bushes at the site of a colliery disaster in Leigh, Greater Manchester. Most of the phenomena seem benign, but several roads have a reputation for figures which appear to run into the path of traffic.' [1]
The M6 Toll, being Britain's first toll motorway designed to relieve congestion on one of the busier sections between Junctions 4 and 10 (bypassing Birmingham) the main motorway section, is apparently haunted by a cohort of Roman legionnaires, with one interviewee reporting seeing 'about 20 soldiers "more like upright shadows than men walking through the tarmac as you would through water."'
[2]

M6 Toll

Main articles: M6 Toll

The M6 Toll, Britain's first toll motorway, was partially opened (to local traffic only) on December 9 2003 and fully opened a few days later. It bypasses the West Midlands conurbation to the east and north of Birmingham and Walsall, and was built to alleviate congestion through the West Midlands. Prior to the opening of the toll motorway,
this section of the M6 carried 180,000 vehicles per day at its busiest point near to Wolverhampton (between the junctions with the M54 and M5 motorways), compared to a design capacity of only 72,000 vehicles. The daytime price for a car to travel the full length of the M6 Toll increased from £3 to £3.50 on 14 June 2005 and again to £4 on 1 January 2007.
An alternative way of by-passing the congested West Midlands area (northbound) is to continue north on the M1 then take the A50 or A52.

Future developments

Widening between J11a and J19

Due to the congested nature of the M6 between Wolverhampton and Warrington, the UK Government is planning to widen the existing motorway to increase capacity. The proposal is to widen the road from a 3 to a 4 lane dual carriageway between junction 11a and junction 19. The first phase of the widening could be completed by 2014, with the remaining sections following until full completion in 2017.

History of the proposal

In December 2002, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, announced his decision to widen the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester as a result of a study that had recently been completed. However, following on from the opening of the M6 toll road in December 2003, Mr Darling announced on 6 July 2004 a proposal to build a second toll road (dubbed the M6 Expressway) as an alternative to the widening scheme. [3]
The two-lane Expressway was expected to run from Junction 11 (Cannock) to Junction 19 (Knutsford), following a roughly parallel course to the existing M6. It was discussed in the Department for Transport (DfT) document: M6: giving motorists a choice.
On 19 July 2005 the Minister of State for Transport, Dr Stephen Ladyman MP, released a press notice acknowledging there was no clear consensus over which option was best, and stating that he had commissioned more work to further develop the proposals for both options. His intention being that it would be easier to make a choice when the two were more clearly defined. [4]
Responses to the earlier document were also published: Responses to M6: giving motorists a choice
Dr Ladyman released a further press notice on 20 July 2006 to announce the decision to abandon the Expressway proposal and continue with the original widening option. [5]

A556(M)

The A556(M) link road, planned to provide a route to the M56 eastbound towards Manchester for travellers coming from the south on the M6, has been the subject of a public inquiry for many years. The Highways Agency's Route Management Strategy (RMS) for the A556 now promotes gradual upgrading to dual carriageway standard with a 50 mph speed limit, rather than a full upgrade to motorway. ^[1]

"Cumberland Gap"

In March 2006, after years of political wrangling, the Government finally gave the green light to extend the M6 for 6 miles (the so-called "Cumberland Gap") from its northern terminus at Guard's Mill near Carlisle to the Anglo-Scottish border at Gretna where it will link into the existing A74(M). Costing £174m, (estimated at more than £30m a mile) the new road will be a mixture of new road and online upgrade of the existing A74. The high construction cost is attributable to the route of the road, which has to traverse the West Coast Main Line, and to this end new bridges will need to be constructed. The project has also been subject to a lengthy public enquiry, and the course of the route has been designed to minimise the number of properties that will be destroyed or relocated by the motorway. Once completed however (estimated in 2009), an uninterrupted motorway will then exist between Glasgow and London, and effectively as far south as Exeter.
What remains unclear however, is if the original numbering change to the M74/A74(M) to M6 will now go ahead. Although road signage on its southern stretches was equipped with removable "A74(M)" plates which reveal "M6" beneath, the Scottish Executive has been reticent over whether the numbering change will actually happen.
Construction work, which is being carried out by Carillion, began on this section of motorway at the end of July 2006.[6]

Legislation

Each motorway in England requires that a legal document called a Statutory Instrument be published, detailing the route of the road, before it can be built. The dates given on these Statutory Instruments relate to when the document was published, and not when the road was built. Provided below is an incomplete list of the Statutory Instruments relating to the route of the M6.

★ Statutory Instrument 1987 No. 252: County Council of West Midlands (M6 Motorway Junction 10) (Connecting Road) Scheme 1985 Confirmation Instrument 1987 S.I. 1987/252

★ Statutory Instrument 1987 No. 2254: M6 Motorway (Catthorpe Interchange) Connecting Roads Scheme 1987 S.I. 1987/2254

★ Statutory Instrument 1990 No. 2659: M6 Motorway: Widening between Junctions 20 and 21A (Thelwall Viaduct) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1990 S.I. 1990/2659

★ Statutory Instrument 1991 No. 1873: M6 Motorway (Widening and Improvements Between Junctions 30 and 32) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1991 S.I. 1991/1873

★ Statutory Instrument 1993 No. 1370: Lancashire County Council (Proposed Connecting Roads to M6 Motorway at Haighton) Special Roads Scheme 1992 Confirmation Instrument 1993 S.I. 1993/1370

★ Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1292: M6 Birmingham to Carlisle Motorway (At Haighton) Connecting Roads Scheme 1997 S.I. 1997/1292

★ Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1293: M6 Birmingham To Carlisle Motorway (at Haighton) Special Roads Scheme 1997 Transfer Order 1997 S.I. 1997/1293

★ Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 125: The M6 Motorway (Saredon and Packington Diversions) Scheme 1998 S.I. 1998/125

Junctions

'M6 Motorway'
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
Road continues as 'A74' '(A74(M))' to Glasgow, Edinburgh ''	J44 ()	Carlisle, Galashiels, Hawick 'A7'
Carlisle, Galashiels, Hawick 'A7'		''Start of motorway''
Carlisle, Hexham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 'A69'	J43	Carlisle, Hexham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 'A69'
Carlisle 'A6'	J42	Carlisle 'A6'
''Southwaite services''
Wigton 'B5305'	J41	Wigton 'B5305'
Penrith, Keswick 'A66'	J40	Penrith, Keswick, Brough, Scotch Corner 'A66'
Shap, Kendal '(A6)'	J39	Shap '(A6)'
''Tebay services''
Brough 'A685' Appleby 'B6260'	J38	Kendal, Brough 'A685'
Kendal, Sedbergh 'A684'	J37	Kendal, Sedbergh 'A684'
''no access to services''		''Killington Lake services''
Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton 'A65' Kendal, Barrow-in-Furness 'A590'	J36	Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton 'A65' Barrow-in-Furness 'A590'
''Burton-in-Kendal services''		''no access to services''
Carnforth, Morecambe 'A601(M)' '(A6)'	J35	Carnforth, Morecambe 'A601(M)' '(A6)'
Lancaster, Morecambe, Kirkby Lonsdale, Heysham 'A683'	J34	Lancaster, Morecambe 'A683'
Lancaster 'A6'	J33	Garstang, Fleetwood 'A6'
''Lancaster (Forton) services''
Blackpool, Fleetwood, Preston, Garstang 'M55'	J32	Blackpool 'M55'
Preston, Longridge 'B6242'	J31A	''No exit''
Preston, Clitheroe 'A59'	J31	Preston, Clitheroe 'A59'
''No exit''	J30	Manchester, Bolton 'M61' Leeds '(M62)' Blackburn '(M65)'
Burnley, Blackburn, Preston 'M65'	J29	Burnley, Blackburn 'M65'
Leyland '(A49)'	J28	Leyland '(A49)'
''Charnock Richard services''
Parbold, Standish, Chorley 'A5209'	J27	Parbold 'A5209'
Wigan, Skelmersdale, Liverpool, Southport 'M58'	J26	Wigan, Skelmersdale, Liverpool, Southport 'M58'
Wigan, Ashton-in-Makerfield 'A49'	J25	''No exit''
''No exit''	J24	St. Helens, Ashton-in-Makerfield 'A58'
Haydock, Liverpool, Newton-le-Willows 'A580' (''East Lancashire Road'')	J23 ''Haydock Island''	Haydock, Manchester, Liverpool, Newton-le-Willows 'A580' (''East Lancashire Road'')
Newton-le-Willows 'A49' Leigh 'A579'	J22	Warrington 'A49'
Manchester, Leeds 'M62'	J21A	Liverpool, Southport 'M62'
Liverpool, Southport 'M62'		Manchester, Leeds 'M62'
Warrington, Irlam 'A57'	J21	Warrington, Irlam 'A57'
''Thelwall Viaduct''
Lymm, Macclesfield 'A50' ''Poplar 2000 Services''	J20	Lymm, Macclesfield 'A50' ''Poplar 2000 Services''
NORTH WALES, Runcorn, Birkenhead 'M56'		NORTH WALES, Chester, Manchester & Airport, Stockport 'M56'
Manchester & Airport, Stockport 'A556 (M56 (west))'	J19	Northwich, Knutsford, Macclesfield 'A556'
''Knutsford services'' (no HGVs)
Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Northwich, Chester 'A54'	J18	Holmes Chapel, Middlewich 'A54'
Congleton, Sandbach 'A534'	J17	Congleton, Sandbach 'A534'
''Sandbach services''
Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Nantwich 'A500'	J16	Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Nantwich 'A500'
''Keele services''
Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme 'A500'	J15	Stoke-on-Trent, Stone, Eccleshall 'A500'
''Stafford services''
Stafford, Stone, Eccleshall 'A34'	J14	Stafford 'A34'
Stafford 'A449'	J13	Stafford 'A449'
Telford 'A5'	J12	NORTH WALES, Cannock, Wolverhampton, Telford 'A5' ('M54')
''No exit''	J11A	The SOUTH, Lichfield 'M6 Toll'
Cannock 'A460'	J11	Wolverhampton 'A460'
''Hilton Park services''
NORTH WALES, Wolverhampton, Telford 'M54'	J10A	''No exit''
Walsall, Wolverhampton 'A454'	J10	Walsall 'A454'
Wednesbury 'A461'	J9	Wednesbury 'A461'
The SOUTH WEST, Birmingham (West), West Bromwich 'M5'	J8 ()	The SOUTH WEST, Birmingham, West Bromwich 'M5'
Birmingham (NW), Walsall 'A34'	J7 ()	Birmingham 'A34'
Birmingham (Central & North) 'A38(M)' Sutton Coldfield 'A5127'	J6 ''Gravelly Hill Interchange'' ()	Birmingham 'A38(M)' & 'A38'
Birmingham (NE), North Solihull 'A452'	J5 ()	''No exit westbound''
''No exit''	J4A	The NORTH '(M1)' The SOUTH ('M40') 'M42'
Lichfield 'A446'	J4	Coventry, Birmingham Airport, NEC 'A446'
The SOUTH WEST, Birmingham (East & Airport), Solihull, NEC 'M42 (South)'
The NORTH WEST, Lichfield 'M6 Toll' ('M42')	J3A	''No exit''
''Corley services''
Bedworth, Coventry, Nuneaton 'A444'	J3	Bedworth, Coventry, Nuneaton 'A444'
Coventry 'A46' Leicester 'M69' ('M1')	J2	Coventry 'A46' Leicester 'M69'
Rugby, Lutterworth 'A426'	J1	Rugby 'A426'
''No exit''	M1 J19 ()	Felixstowe, Corby, Kettering 'A14', 'M1 (North)'
''Start of motorway''		London 'M1'

M6 Motorway in culture

The M6 motorway was featured in the lyrics of Wings' 1973 single "Helen Wheels": "M6 south down Liverpool, where they play the west coast sound". The song was subsequently included in the 1973 album release of Band on the Run.
Additionally, reference to the motorway appeared in the 1975 song "Moonlighting" by Leo Sayer via the lyric "Meanwhile the Carlisle turnoff of the M6 motorway, drinking cold black coffee, eating hot cup cakes".
A reference to the M6 motorway is also made in the song "Family" from the 1989 New Model Army album Thunder & Consolation: "M6 southbound road side cafe on a wild wet windy night."

See also

★ List of motorways in the United Kingdom

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External links

★ CBRD

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★ Motorway Database - M6

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★ Histories - Opening Booklets, including M6 Preston Bypass

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★ Bad Junctions

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★ M6/A683

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★ M6/M58

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★ M6/A34

★ Lancashire Historic Highways - a page supplied by Lancashire County Council detailing the history of the M6 in North West England, and the construction of Preston Bypass, the UK's first motorway.

★ Route 6

★ The Motorway Archive

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★ Junctions 1 to 13

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★ Junctions 13 to 16

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★ Junctions 16 to 20

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★ Junctions 20 to 29

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★ Junctions 29 to 32

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★ Junctions 33 to 35

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★ Junctions 35 to 40

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★ Junctions 40 to 41

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★ Junctions 41 to 44

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