M60 motorway (Great Britain)

Template:UK motorway routebox The M60 motorway is an orbital motorway circling the urban body of Manchester, a city in the United Kingdom. It runs through all of the metropolitan boroughs of Greater Manchester, except for Wigan and Bolton. Most of the city of Manchester is encompassed within the motorway, except for the southern-most part of the city (primarily the Wythenshawe area and the Airport). The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22, and is a proposed boundary road for the Manchester Congestion Charge

History

The M60 was developed by connecting and consolidating the existing motorway sections of the M63, M62, and an extended M66. It came into existence as the M60 in 2000, with the completion of the eastern side (Junctions 19-24) opening in October of that year.

The original plan called for a completely new motorway, but policy change led to the plan which created the current motorway. As soon as it opened, the motorway got close to its projected maximum volume on significant sections.

As an orbital motorway, it is equivalent to London's M25 motorway, however, unlike the M25, the M60 is a complete circle. In 2004, a section of the northern M60 was the UK's busiest stretch of road, with an average of 181,000 vehicles per day using the stretch between junctions 16 and 17, although usually, the western side of the M25 motorway holds that honour. The M25's figures were lower than normal due to roadworks starting. [1]

Widening between junctions 5 and 8

The M60 motorway as it passes beneath Stockport viaduct

Between junctions 5 and 8 (formerly M63 between junctions 6 to 9), the motorway has recently been widened in a major engineering project spanning several years. Between junctions 5 and 6, the motorway has been widened from three to four lanes in each direction. Between junctions 6 and 8, the motorway had been widened from two to three lanes in each direction, plus an additional two-lane collector/distributor road on either side of the main carriageways. Access for junctions 6 to 8 is only from the collector/distributor road. Some of the junctions have been extensively remodelled. As part of the project, the A6144(M) motorway, which connected to the M60 at junction 8, was downgraded and lost its motorway status.

Proposed Developments

There is talk of some sections becoming toll sections, and there is still talk of building a new orbital motorway as proposed by the original plan.

Legislation

Each motorway in England requires that 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 M60.

• Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 1708: M66 Motorway (Manchester Ring Road, Denton to Middleton Section) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1988 S.I. 1988/1708
• Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 1728: M66 Motorway (Middleton to the Lancashire/Yorkshire Motorway (M62) Section) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1988 S.I. 1988/1728
• Statutory Instrument 1993 No. 363: M66 Motorway (Manchester Outer Ring Road, Denton to Middleton Section) A663 Broadway All-Purpose Connecting Road Order 1993 S.I. 1993/363
• Statutory Instrument 1993 No. 364: M66 Motorway (Manchester Outer Ring Road, Denton to Middleton Section) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1988 Amendment Scheme 1993 S.I. 1993/364
• Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 2724: The M60 Motorway (Improvement Between Junctions 5 and 8) Connecting Roads Scheme 1999 S.I. 1999/2724
• Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 2403: The M60 Motorway (Junction 25) (Speed Limit) Regulations 2002 S.I. 2002/2403

List of Junctions

M60 Motorway
Anticlockwise exits	Junction	Clockwise exits
Original M63 route
A5145: Stockport	J1	A5145: Stockport
A560: Cheadle	J2	No access
A34: Cheadle, Wilmslow	J3	A34: Cheadle, Wilmslow
	J4	M56: Chester, Warrington, Manchester
A5103: Wythenshawe (M56: Manchester, Chester)	J5	A5103: Manchester, Didsbury
A6144: Sale	J6	A6144: Sale
A56: Altrincham	J7	A56: Altrincham, Stretford
A6144: Carrington	J8	A6144: Carrington
A5081: Trafford Park, Trafford Centre	J9	A5081: Trafford Park, Trafford Centre, Urmston
B5214: Trafford Park	J10	B5214: Trafford Park
A57: Irlam, Eccles	J11	A57: Eccles, Irlam
M62: Warrington, Liverpool M602: Salford	J12	M62: Warrington, Liverpool M602: Salford
Original M62 route
A572: Swinton A575: Worsley, Leigh	J13	A572: Swinton
A580: St. Helens, Leigh	J14	access
M61: Bolton, Wigan, Preston	J15	M61: Bolton, Wigan, Preston
A666: Salford, Pendlebury, Kearsley	J16	No access
A56: Whitefield, Manchester, Prestwich	J17	A56: Prestwich, Whitefield
M62: Leeds, Bolton, Preston, Liverpool M66: Bury, Burnley	J18	M62: Leeds M60: Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester M62: Leeds
Route opened in 2000
A576: Middleton, Manchester	J19	A576: Middleton, Manchester
No access	J20	A664: Blackley, Moston
A663: Oldham, Failsworth	J21	A663: Failsworth, Oldham
A62: Oldham, Failsworth	J22	A62: Oldham, Failsworth
A635: Ashton-under-Lyne	J23	A635: Ashton-under-Lyne
Original M66 route
A57: Manchester M67: Sheffield	J24	A57: Manchester M67: Sheffield
A560: Bredbury	J25	A560: Bredbury
Original M63 route
No access	J26	A560: Stockport
Stockport East (Multiple Roads)	J27	No access
Continue to Junction 1

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom.

External links

• CBRD Motorway Database - M60
• Highways Agency - M60 Jct 5 to 8 (formerly M63 Jct 6 to 9) widening