Main → M6 motorway
Index | Date | Recent
 
 

M6 motorway

Published on Wednesday, October 10th 2007

M6 Motorway


Road of the United Kingdom

Length 226.7 miles (364.8 km)

Direction South – North

Start Catthorpe

Primary destinations Rugby
Coventry
Nuneaton
Birmingham
Walsall
Wolverhampton
Stafford
Stoke-on-Trent
Warrington
Manchester
Liverpool
Preston
Lancaster
Kendal
Penrith

End Carlisle

Construction dates 1958 – 1972

Motorways joined
M1 motorway
2 –
M69 motorway
3A –
M6 Toll
4/4A –
M42 motorway
6 –
A38(M) motorway
8 –
M5 motorway
10A –
M54 motorway
11A –
M6 Toll
20 –
M56 motorway
21A –
M62 motorway
26 –
M58 motorway
29 –
M65 motorway
30 –
M61 motorway
32 –
M55 motorway
35 –
A601(M) motorway

Euroroute(s)

E 05

E 24

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 between Coventry and Nuneaton, through Birmingham and near the major cities of Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Liverpool and Preston, with a major junction onto the M56 and M62 at Warrington, 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 E24. E5 joins the M6 Toll from the M42 and then uses the M6 to its north end at Carlisle, where it continues along the M74.

History and curiosities

The M6 in Cheshire, 1969

The M6 in Cheshire, 1969

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 motorway builders here chose to follow route of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway engineered by Joseph Locke (now part of the West Coast Main Line).

The northbound entry slip road at Lancaster (J34) 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. This junction was upgraded from an earlier emergency-vehicles-only access point, which explains the substandard design.

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.

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. It was increased further to £4.50 on 1 January 2008.

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.

Current developments

M6 Carlisle to Guards Mill Extension

In March 2006, after a 15 years saga, the government finally gave the green light to upgrade 6 miles of (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). Cconstruction work should be complete by December 2008. The new road which will be a mixture of new road and online upgrade of the existing A74, traverses the West Coast Main Line with an estimated costs of £174m. Once completed will provide an uninterrupted motorway between between Glasgow to London and also as far south as Exeter.

It is unclear if the numbering proposal (to change it from M74/A74(M) to M6 will go ahead) even though road signage on its southern stretches was equipped with removable “A74(M)” plates which reveal “M6” beneath it. The Scottish Government has not clarified its intentions.

Proposed developments

Increasing capacity between J11a and J19

The government wishes to improve reliability and capacity between Junctions 11 by Cannock) and Junction 19 near Knutsford. In 2004 it favoured a new motorway, ‘The Expressway’ following a roughly parallel course to the existing M6.In July 2006 the government announced its decision to abandon the Expressway proposal and favoured widening accompanied by demand management measures and have launched a study to consider options for providing additional capacity. The first phase of the widening could be completed by 2014, with the remaining sections following until full completion in 2017.

Hard Shoulder Running (Junction 4-5 and 8 to 10a)

In October 2007, following a successful trial on the M42 in the West Midlands, the UK government have announced that two stretches of the M6 will be upgraded to allow the hard shoulder to be used as a normal running lane during busy conditions. The two stretches, between junctions 4 and 5 and between junctions 10a and 8, are two of the busiest sections on the entire motorway. The system could also be extended onto other stretches of the M6 as the government is going to undertake a feasibility study to determine other likely locations where this technology can be implemented.

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.”

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

Legislation

The M6 near Carnforth, 2005

The M6 near Carnforth, 2005

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.

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M6_motorway”



1958  Birmingham  Blackpool  Coventry  Edinburgh  England  Glasgow  Harold Macmillan  Hungary  Lake District  Leeds  Liverpool  M1 Motorway  M25 Motorway  Manchester  Newcastle Upon Tyne  Prime Minister of the United Kingdom  Republic of Ireland