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Preston Bypass Photographs
The Preston Bypass holds the honour of being the UK's first motorway. People often ask me why the first motorway was built at Preston, and not somewhere like London, but the answer is shockingly simple. Preston was one of the biggest congestion hotspots in the UK in the 1950s, with traffic using the A6, A59 and A583 to cross the town, which meant North-South traffic on the A6 was conflicting with East-West traffic on the A59, along with holidaymakers headed to Blackpool on the A583. This was a recipe for disaster. The solution was to build a motorway, the first of its kind, to create a bypass for North-South traffic. And thus, the M6 was born, numbered as such because it connected the A6 to the A6, and a continous number was required as to not confuse motorists.
However, traffic congestion in Preston still continued, as there was no provision for an A59 bypass for East-West movements, and eventually when Preston was redeveloped in the 1960s, the council built Ringway for A59 traffic. This too is now congested, and there are still no plans for an E-W bypass (which could easily be built if the Highways Agency extended the M65 westwards from Junction 1A as an all-purpose dual carriageway.
When it opened in December 1958, it was a whole new kettle of fish to the British public, who had been used to narrow winding A roads passing through every town. It had two lanes each way, a landscaped central reservation, and a hard shoulder, which was constructed of soft gravel - a mistake that later had to be rectfied at the cost of a motorway closure, bringing forth lots of criticism! Eventually, traffic on the new M6 got worse as the motorway was extended southwards in the early 1960s (the gap between Junction 32 and 33 opened in 1965), and had to be widened to three lanes each way (although provision was made for this in the form of a wide central reservation).
The country's first three-level interchange (originally planned as a grade seperated roundabout - imagine the chaos that would be present today if that plan went ahead!) at Broughton was constructed in wait for the M55 (Preston's northern bypass and Blackpool spur, eradicating the chaos on the A583). Between 1965 and 1974, the M55 was a tiny spur, ending on the A6 at Junction 32A. This was renumbered as Junction 1 when the M55 was finally opened.
By the late 1980s, traffic congestion on the M6 between the M61 at Junction 30 and M55 at Junction 32 was getting severe. This was because at J30, northbound traffic dropped from three lanes to two, with the M61 providing that important third lane again. The M61 itself dropped from three lanes to one, causing even more congestion. The solution was to widen the motorway to four lanes each way (D4M). This was completed in 1995, and this killed plans for a western bypass for Preston. The notorious J30 bottleneck was eradicated, but a new one was created at Junction 32 - where four lanes drop to two. This is pretty bad at rush hour, and I know of people who'll dart down the M55 to J1, turn round, and go back to the M6 as it sometimes is quicker than sitting in a queue through the interchage at Broughton!
The result is that the M6 is unrecongisable, but the M55 still retains its exact 1974 configuration. Provided here are some photos of the M6 as it stands today.
Preston Bypass in 2003 & 2005 (northbound):
This is the Preston By-pass, just north of Junction 31. The road here is D4M, widened between 1993 and 1995 between Junctions 30 and 32. Additionally a new Junction, 31A, was built to serve the B6242. As you thunder along amid four lanes of traffic, you wouldn't believe that in 1958 this was a narrow two lane motorway.
Approaching Junction 31A, the rather quiet four lanes thunder along. The time was 4:40pm on a Thursday Evening.
A closer look at a gantry on the motorway.
The split for the M55 is actually a horrendous bottleneck. This is because there are only two lanes on the mainline M6 through the interchange, although if they did widening on the cheap and installed a third lane (there would have to be an intermittent hard shoulder though...) traffic would flow a lot better. At rush hour, the whole thing is known to grind to a halt.
The M6 to M55 sliproad here is original to the Preston Bypass and has simply been modernised. In 1958 the M6 simply curved around to meet the A6.
Junction 32 is a large directional-T, with a C/D lane for the A6 junction which is barely 800 yards west of M6 J32. At the time this photo was taken, roadworks to replace the armco barriers were being undertaken, and this photo demonstrates the English practice of queueing like fools when there's an empty lane for another 400 yards. Also compare the gantry with the ones on the M6 - the age difference is clearly shown. Also, these streetlights were used on the M6 before the new columns were installed during the widening.
The gore sign for the A6 is before the diverge. This is due to space constaints - but there is a gantry at the diverge which makes up for this.
And here you can see the diverge for J1. In the central reservation a few yards further on is a 1970s "M55" confirmation sign (these used to be common down the central reservation of the M6 through Cheshire too - there's still a set of poles south of J19 that will once have had an "M6" confirmation sign on it.), these weren't really much use though to drivers, considering that there are confirmation signs used on the left hand side of the carriageway as well.
Closer look at the gantry. Notice the arrows are missing - I presume this is due to an imminent replacement rather than vandalism or damage from weather.
Notice the "M55" confirmation signs in the central reservation - there are two.
Between the M6 and J1, the westbound carriageway has a C/D lane setup - the gantry on the left is for that area, left lane for "Preston, Garstang A6", right lane for "Blackpool, Fleetwood M55", although with the roadworks the merge back in was closed. Traffic from the Southbound M6 had to descend to J1 and re-join after the roundabout.
Another 1970s sign on the left here - "Motorways Merge 200 yards". These signs are quite rare now, although there was a 1960s version on the southbound M6 (complete with the early "½ mile" legend that included that diagonal line), but it was replaced near the end of 2002 with a diagrammatic.
It's still there! This sign is original to the motorway (ie, the M55 - so 1974, NOT 1958!), like the confirmation signs in the central reservation.
Preston Bypass in 2004 & 2005 (southbound):
NB: The photos show both the mainline M55 and entrance from the A6.
The start of the Preston Bypass is the A6 at M55 J1. The signage, however, states you're entering the M6. While this isn't strictly true, the M55 east of J1 by default throws you onto the M6.
Entering from the original 1958 entrance slip. The verges are growing out of control!
Now let's see what the M55 presents:
The A6 gantry has missing arrows again, and the mainline control is "Motorway M6". This bit of motorway is madness at rush hour.
This unusual sign warns M6 North traffic it has two thirds of a mile before the exit - handy given the amount of weaving that goes on here! The legend "M6 North" feels rather American in itself!
This sign warns that you have half a mile to get in lane. It's loosely modelled off the Anderson version of this sign.
The motorway had severe congestion due to an earlier accident (and the fact it was rush hour), so I took the oppurtunity to get a photo of the 1974 M55 confirmation sign.
This stretch of the M55 is 4 lanes wide. In heavy traffic the weave is simple provided people will make a gap - in free flowing conditions it can be very hairy. Interesting use of the The Lakes as a forward control. In the distance you can see the M6 South to M55 West flyover.
Heading onto the M6 South now. The upcoming bend has a 50mph advisory speed limit.
The sliproad had gridlocked itself - the accident had since been cleared, but the inevitable resultant tailback (on the M6) sprawled back to Junction 33 - some 13 miles away.
The sliproad has a tigertail merge bringing the M6 up to D4M.
The bypass uses overhead signals, such as these, to give instructions to each lane.
The confirmation signs mention Birmingham at a mere 108 miles away. It's quite sluggish in light traffic, believe me!
The M6 sprawls out in front of traffic like this - it really is a fantastic stretch of motorway!
The gantry for J31 is well laid out. The yellow sign is about roadworks and overnight closures for a footbridge repair operation at J27.
The original motorway GSJ is here.
MS3s for Thelwall Viaduct. These are very helpful and usually say something like "delays", which should be obvious to anyone and everyone.
The M61 interchange has a tigertail lane drop. It's needed due to the heavy volumes of traffic that leave for Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn, Leeds, and so on.
And the split is here.
Passing under J30 and the motorway is back to the original 1960s configuration from when it was originally widened.
This overbidge has no hard shoulder through it, because it is an original 1958 construction - the only one left on the whole stretch of Preston Bypass.
And as J29 approaches, that signals the end of the Bypass.
Commerative Plinths:
This plinth, at J31, commerates the opening of Britain's first motorway.
THis additonal plinth commerates the widening work, completed on October 11th, 1995.