M6 motorway

This article is about the British motorway. For other uses, see M6.

M6 motorway
M6 highlighted in dark blue
Route information
Part of E05 and E24
Maintained by Highways Agency
Length:	232.2 mi (373.7 km)
History:	Opened in 1958, completed in 2008
Major junctions
South end:	Catthorpe
	M1 motorway J2 → M69 motorway J3a → M6 Toll 1000x20px J4 → M42 motorway 1000x20px J4a → M42 motorway J6 → A38(M) motorway M5 motorway J10a → M54 motorway J11a → M6 Toll J20 → M56 motorway J21a → M62 motorway J26 → M58 motorway J29 → M65 motorway J30 → M61 motorway J32 → M55 motorway J35 → A601(M) motorway J45 → A74(M) motorway
North end:	Gretna
Location
Primary destinations:	Rugby Coventry Nuneaton Birmingham Walsall Wolverhampton Cannock Stafford Stoke-on-Trent Newcastle-under-Lyme Warrington Wigan Manchester Liverpool Preston Lancaster Kendal Penrith Carlisle Gretna
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction (J45). Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74(M) which continues to Glasgow as the M74.

The M6 is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom and one of the busiest. It incorporated the Preston By-pass, the first length of motorway opened in the UK and forms part of a motorway "Backbone of Britain", running north−south between London and Glasgow via the industrial North of England. It is also part of the east−west route between the Midlands and the east-coast ports. The section from the M1 to the M6 Toll split near Birmingham forms part of the unsigned E-road E 24 and the section from the M6 Toll and the M42 forms part of E 05.

Route

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 and from the beginning of A14 in Catthorpe near Rugby in central England, passes between Coventry and Nuneaton, through Birmingham, Walsall and Stafford and near the major cities of Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent. The motorway has major junctions with the M56 and M62 at Warrington, giving access to Chester, Manchester and Liverpool. The M6 then heads north past Wigan, Preston and Lancaster. After the latter two cities it passes through Cumbria with some parts very close to the edge of the Lake District, and then passes Carlisle on its way to Gretna, before the motorway becomes the A74(M) a few hundred metres (yards) short of the Scottish border.

History

Planning and construction

The first section of the motorway and the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass. It was built by Tarmac Construction and opened by the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on 5 December 1958. In January 1959 the Preston by-pass was closed because of rapid surface deterioration over a stretch of 100 yards (91 m) "due to water freezing and then thawing". Motorists were diverted to the old road while the UK road research laboratory at Harmondsworth pondered the importance of surface water drainage.

Later, other sections of the motorway were constructed, and finally it was all linked together, giving an uninterrupted motorway length of 230 miles (370 km).

The M6 in Cheshire

The second phase of construction was completed in 1960, forming the Lancaster by-pass. Some 100 miles (160 km) south, the Stafford by-pass was completed in 1962. By 1965, the remaining sections of motorway Stafford–Preston and Preston–Lancaster had been completed. 1968 saw the completion of the Walsall to Stafford link as well as the Penrith by-pass some 150 miles (240 km) north in Cumberland. In 1970, the Lancaster–Penrith link was completed, along with a short section of motorway by-passing the south of Walsall. The most northerly section of the motorway also opened in 1970, running to the designated terminus north of Carlisle. By 1971, the full route was completed between the junction with the M1 motorway at Rugby and the A38 road several miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, including Bromford Viaduct between Castle Bromwich (J5) and Gravelly Hill (J6), which at 3½ miles is the longest viaduct in Great Britain.

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. At this point a local road (to Scout Green) runs between the two carriageways without a link to the motorway.

The section of the M6 that runs over Shap Fell in Cumbria is 1,050 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 engineers here chose to follow the route of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway engineered by Joseph Locke (now part of the West Coast Main Line) where the motorway runs in a split-level cutting above the railway in the descent from Shap Fell through the Lune Gorge into southern Cumbria.

The northbound entry slip road at Lancaster (junction 34) 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 originally intended to replace the old A6, which it does along the northern section starting with the Preston Bypass. However, a much closer approximation to the overall actual route of the M6 (heading north from its southern terminus) is provided by following the A45, A34, A50, A49, then the A6. South of Preston, the A6 route is instead supplemented by the M61 as far as Manchester, with the M60 acting as a bypass around the city. South of Manchester, there is no true motorway replacement for the old road. The M1 acts as a bypass for long-distance traffic in the south, from the Kegworth junction near Nottingham, to Luton and St. Albans near London; but, it is not an alternative for local traffic as the routes diverge by more than 15 miles while passing through Northamptonshire. Across the Pennines, the old road remains the main local through-route, and long-distance fast traffic between Derby and Manchester must instead take either the A50 and M6, or M1 and M62.

Operational

In July 1972 the UK Minister for Transport Industries announced that 86 miles (138 km) of UK motorway particularly prone to fog would benefit from lighting in a project which "should be" completed by 1973. Sections to be illuminated included the M6 between junctions 10 and 11, and between junctions 20 and 27.

In March 2006, after 15 years of debate, the government authorised the construction of a 6-mile (9.7 km) extension of the M6 from its then northern terminus near Carlisle to the Anglo-Scottish border at Gretna (the so-called "Cumberland Gap"), where it links into the existing A74(M). The road opened on 5 December 2008, the 50th anniversary of the M6 Preston By-pass. The project, which was a mixture of new road and upgrade of the existing A74, crosses the West Coast Main Line and had an estimated costs of £174 million. It completed an uninterrupted motorway from just south of Dunblane (via the M9, the recently opened M80 section near Cumbernauld and the M73) in the north to Exeter (via the M5) and to London (via both the M42/M40 and the M1) in the south.

The M6 Toll, Britain's first toll motorway, which bypasses the West Midlands conurbation to the east and north of Birmingham and Walsall and was built to alleviate congestion through the West Midlands, and opened in December 2003. Before the opening of the toll motorway, this section of the M6 carried 180,000 vehicles per day at its busiest point near Wolverhampton (between the junctions with the M54 and M5 motorways), compared with a design capacity of only 72,000 vehicles. Usage, at about 50,000 vehicles, was lower than expected and traffic levels on the M6 were only slightly reduced as a result. The high toll prices, which were set by the operating company and over which the UK government has no influence until 2054, were blamed for the low usage. Much traffic continues to use the M6 or the continued on the M1 and took the A50 or A52. As of July 2012 the road between Junctions 3A and 11A now carries 120,000 motor vehicles every day.

A proposed extension to the M6 Toll known as the 'M6 Expressway', which would have continued from the M6 Toll as far as Knutsford, at which point much of the existing M6 traffic leaves the M6 for Manchester, was abandoned in 2006 due to excessive costs, anticipated construction problems and disappointing levels of use of the M6 Toll.

Proposed developments

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 under a scheme called Active Traffic Management. 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 used.

Managed motorway J13 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 current proposal is in introduce managed motorway between Junction 13 and 19.

Catthorpe interchange – (M6/M1/A14)

The Highways Agency has developed proposals for a major upgrade to the overloaded Catthorpe Interchange where the M6, the M1 motorway and the A14 road meet at Catthorpe.

Junctions

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres (yards) and the start and end distances are known, both distances are shown.

M6 motorway
mile	km	Northbound exits (A carriageway)	Junction	Southbound exits (B carriageway)	Coordinates
		M6 continues as A74(M) to Glasgow, Edinburgh
313.2	504.3	Gretna (Green) B7076 Longtown A6071	M6 J45	No access
309.6 309.2	498.2 497.5	Todhills Rest Area	Services	Todhills Rest Area
307.6 307.3	495.1 494.6	Carlisle (North), Galashiels, Hawick A7	J44	Carlisle A7, Workington (A595) Hexham A689
303.8 303.5	488.9 488.4	Carlisle, Hexham, Newcastle A69	J43	Carlisle, Hexham, Newcastle A69
301.1 300.7	484.6 484.0	Carlisle (South) A6	J42	Carlisle (South) A6
		Southwaite services	Services	Southwaite services
288.7 288.4	464.6 464.1	Wigton B5305	J41	Wigton B5305
285.5 285.2	459.5 459.0	Penrith, Workington, Keswick, Scotch Corner A66	J40	Penrith, Keswick, Brough, Scotch Corner A66
274.4 274.0	441.6 441.0	Shap (A6)	J39	Shap, Kendal (A6)
		Tebay services	Services	Tebay services
268.9 268.5	432.7 432.1	Brough A685 Appleby B6260	J38	Kendal, Brough A685
260.3 260.0	418.9 418.4	Kendal, Sedbergh A684	J37	Kendal, Sedbergh A684
		No access	Services	Killington Lake services
252.7 252.3	406.7 406.0	Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton A65 Kendal, Barrow-in-Furness A590	J36	Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton A65 Barrow-in-Furness A590
		Burton-in-Kendal services	Services	No access
245.1 244.6	394.4 393.6	Carnforth, Morecambe A601(M) (A6)	J35	Carnforth, Morecambe A601(M) (A6)
240.8 240.6	387.6 387.2	Lancaster, Morecambe, Kirkby Lonsdale, Heysham A683	J34	Lancaster, Morecambe A683
234.6 234.3	377.6 377.1	Lancaster (South) A6	J33	Garstang, Fleetwood A6
		Lancaster (Forton) services	Services	Lancaster (Forton) services
221.5 221.0	356.5 355.7	Blackpool, Fleetwood M55, Preston (North), Garstang A6	J32	Blackpool M55, Preston (North) A6
219.5 219.3	353.2 352.9	Preston (East), Longridge B6242	J31A	No access
		Preston (Central), Blackburn (North), Clitheroe A59	J31	Preston (Central), Clitheroe A59
215.4 214.9	346.6 345.9	No access	J30	Manchester, Bolton M61 Leeds (M62) Blackburn (M65)
213.9 213.5	344.3 343.6	Burnley, Blackburn, Preston (South) M65	J29	Burnley, Blackburn M65
212.3 211.9	341.6 341.0	Leyland B5256 (A49)	J28	Leyland B5256 (A49)
		Charnock Richard services	Services	Charnock Richard services
204.8 204.4	329.6 329.0	Parbold, Standish, Chorley A5209	J27	Parbold, Wigan A5209
200.8 200.5	323.1 322.6	Wigan A577 Skelmersdale, Liverpool, Southport M58	J26	Wigan A577 St Helens Liverpool Southport (M58) Kirkby, Fazakerley (M57)
198.0 197.8	318.7 318.3	Wigan A49	J25	No access
196.9 196.5	316.9 316.3	No access	J24	Ashton-in-Makerfield, St. Helens A58
195.6 195.2	314.8 314.1	Haydock, Ashton-in-Makerfield, St Helens, Manchester, Liverpool, Newton-le-Willows A580	J23	Haydock, Ashton-in-Makerfield, St Helens, Manchester, Liverpool, Newton-le-Willows A580
192.4 192.1	309.6 309.1	Newton-le-Willows A49 Leigh A579	J22	Warrington A49
191.0 190.5	307.4 306.5	Manchester, Leeds M62	J21A	Liverpool, Southport M62
		Liverpool, Southport M62		Manchester, Leeds M62
188.3 188.0	303.0 302.5	Warrington, Irlam A57	J21	Warrington, Irlam A57
		Thelwall Viaduct
185.6	298.7	No access	J20	Macclesfield, Warrington A50
				Lymm B5158
185.3	298.2	No access	J20A	NORTH WALES, Chester, Runcorn, Manchester & Airport M56
184.5	296.9	NORTH WALES, Chester, Runcorn M56	J20	No access
		Warrington, Lymm A50
180.3 179.9	290.2 289.5	Manchester & Airport, Stockport A556 (M56 east)	J19	Northwich, Knutsford, Macclesfield A556
		Knutsford services (Sign Posted No HGVs use Poplar 2000 Services (Lymm), but HGV fuel pumps and a small HGV parking area are provided)	Services	Knutsford services
172.2 171.9	277.2 276.7	Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Winsford, Northwich, Chester A54	J18	Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Winsford A54
168.9 168.3	271.3 270.8	Congleton, Sandbach A534	J17	Congleton, Sandbach A534
		Sandbach services	Services	Sandbach services
162.6 162.3	261.7 261.2	Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Nantwich A500	J16	Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Nantwich A500
		Keele services	Services	Keele services
153.1 152.9	246.4 246.1	Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle-under-Lyme A500	J15	Stoke-on-Trent, Stone, Eccleshall A500 Derby (A50)
		Stafford services	Services	Stafford services	North South
142.0 141.8	228.6 228.2	Stafford, Stone, Eccleshall A34	J14	Stafford (North) A34
136.8 136.5	220.1 219.6	Stafford A449	J13	Stafford (South & Central) A449
131.6 131.2	211.8 211.1	Telford A5	J12	Cannock, Wolverhampton A5, North Wales, Telford (M54)
		No access	J11A	The SOUTH, Lichfield M6 Toll
128.7 128.4	207.2 206.7	(M6 Toll), Cannock A460	J11	Wolverhampton A460
		Hilton Park services	Services	Hilton Park services
127.0 126.7	204.4 203.9	NORTH WALES, Wolverhampton, Telford M54	J10A J10A — M54	No access
123.3 122.9	198.4 197.8	Walsall, Wolverhampton A454	J10	Walsall A454
121.7 121.5	195.8 195.6	Wednesbury A461	J9	Wednesbury A461
119.9	193.0	The SOUTH WEST, Birmingham (West), West Bromwich M5	J8	The SOUTH WEST, Birmingham, West Bromwich M5
118.4 118.1	190.6 190.1	Birmingham (NW), Walsall A34	J7	Birmingham A34
114.2 113.9	183.8 183.3	Birmingham (Central & North) A38(M) Sutton Coldfield A5127	J6 Gravelly Hill Interchange	Birmingham A38(M) & A38
110.9 110.8	178.5 178.3	Birmingham (NE), Castle Bromwich A452	J5	No access
108.8 108.6	175.1 174.8	No access	J4A	The NORTH (M1), Tamworth M42 (N), M6 Toll The SOUTH, London (M40), Birmingham (S), N.E.C. & Airport M42 (S)
106.0 105.7	170.6 170.1	Lichfield, Coleshill A446, The SOUTH WEST (M5) Birmingham (South), Solihull M42(S)	J4	Coventry, Birmingham Airport, NEC A446
		The NORTH WEST (M6 Toll), Tamworth M42(N)	J3A	No access
		Corley services	Services	Corley services
96.9 96.4	155.9 155.2	Coventry (North), Nuneaton A444, Bedworth B4113	J3	Coventry (North), Nuneaton A444, Bedworth B4113
93.7 93.3	150.8 150.1	Coventry A46 Leicester M69 (M1)	J2	Coventry (East) A46, Leicester, Hinckley M69 (M1(N))
85.6 85.2	137.8 137.1	Rugby A426	J1	Rugby, Lutterworth A426
85.2	137.1	No access	M1 J19	Felixstowe, Corby, Kettering A14, Birmingham, Leicester M1 (North), London, Northampton M1 (South)
		Start of motorway

Legislation

Each motorway in England requires that a legal document called a Statutory Instrument to 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
• Statutory Instrument 1987 No. 2254: M6 Motorway (Catthorpe Interchange) Connecting Roads Scheme 1987
• Statutory Instrument 1990 No. 2659: M6 Motorway: Widening between Junctions 20 and 21A (Thelwall Viaduct) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1990
• Statutory Instrument 1991 No. 1873: M6 Motorway (Widening and Improvements Between Junctions 30 and 32) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1991
• Statutory Instrument 1993 No. 1370: Lancashire County Council (Proposed Connecting Roads to M6 Motorway at Haighton) Special Roads Scheme 1992 Confirmation Instrument 1993
• Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1292: M6 Birmingham to Carlisle Motorway (At Haighton) Connecting Roads Scheme 1997
• Statutory Instrument 1997 No. 1293: M6 Birmingham To Carlisle Motorway (at Haighton) Special Roads Scheme 1997 Transfer Order 1997
• Statutory Instrument 1998 No. 125: The M6 Motorway (Saredon and Packington Diversions) Scheme 1998

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom
• Category:M6 motorway service stations

External links

• CBRD
  • Motorway database – M6
  • Histories – opening booklets, including M6 Preston Bypass
  • Bad Junctions
    • M6/A683
    • M6/M58
    • 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
  • Junctions 1 to 13
  • Junctions 13 to 16
  • Junctions 16 to 20
  • Junctions 20 to 29
  • Junctions 29 to 32
  • Junctions 33 to 35
  • Junctions 35 to 40
  • Junctions 40 to 41
  • Junctions 41 to 44