M61 motorway: Difference between revisions

M61
M61
Route information
Length	20.0 mi (32.2 km)
Existed	1969–present
History	Constructed 1969–1970
Major junctions
South end	Worsley
	; J1 → M60 motorway; ; J9 → M65 motorway; ; M6 motorway
North end	Preston
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Primary; destinations	Manchester, Bolton, Wigan
Road network
	Roads in the United Kingdom; Motorways; A and B road zones;

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Revision as of 16:24, 13 February 2013

The M61 motorway is a motorway in North West England. It runs from the M60 motorway northwest of Manchester and heads northwest past Bolton and Chorley to join the M6 just north of the junction between the M6 and M65 motorways to the south of Preston.

Worsley Braided Interchange

Perhaps the most distinguishing section of the M61 is to be found at the southern end at the Worsley Braided Interchange between junctions 1 and 3. This stretch of the road on the approach to the terminus with the M60 ring road is a collection of sliproads and overpass tunnels providing free-flowing access to and from the following:

the A580 (East Lancashire Road)
the motorway spur road to and from the A666
both the clockwise and the anti-clockwise carriageways of the M60 (originally M62)
both the northbound and the southbound carriageways of the M61.

The M61 at night looking towards Chorley

This complicated junction earns a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most traffic lanes side by side (17), spread across several parallel carriageways at Linnyshaw.^[1]^[2]^[3] The Google Maps location of this incidence is [1]

On its opening on 17 December 1970, it was already known locally as "Spaghetti Junction",^[4]^[5] 17 months before the opening of Gravelly Hill Interchange in Birmingham, nowadays most associated with that name in Britain.

Media

The M61 has one service station: Rivington services (formerly Bolton West services), located between Junctions 6 and 8 (as Junction 7 was never built). This motorway service area was used in the filming of The Services, a pilot episode for the Farnworth-born comedian Peter Kay series That Peter Kay Thing, a spoof documentary of a day in the life of the services staff.

Junctions

Data^[6] from driver location signs are used to provide distance information.

M61 motorway
mile	km	Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
		The North, Lancaster M6	M6, J30	Start of motorway
20.6	33.2	Blackburn, Burnley, Preston (South) M65	J9	Blackburn, Burnley, Preston (South) M65
17.1	27.6	Chorley, Whittle-le-Woods A674 (A6)	J8	Chorley, Whittle-le-Woods A674 (A6)
		Rivington services	Services	Rivington services
9.6	15.4	Horwich (A673) Chorley (A6)	J6	Bolton (West), Horwich (A673)
7.0	11.2	Wigan, Bolton, Westhoughton A58	J5	Bolton, Westhoughton A58
5.1	8.2	Atherton, Leigh A6	J4	Walkden A6
2.8	4.5	No access	J3	Bolton (A666)
		Bolton (A666)	J2	Manchester (Central) (A580)
		Start of motorway	J1	Oldham, Rochdale M60 (East) Leeds (M62) Salford, Sale M60 (South) Manchester Airport (M56)

External links

References

^ British Roads Database www.cbrd.co.uk URL accessed 18 February 2008
^ "The number's up for Britain's roads". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. October 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2008. The west side of Manchester is notoriously busy and holds the record for the widest section of motorway - an impressive 17 lanes where the M61 and M60 meet.
^ Matthews, Peter (ed) (1992). The Guinness Book of Records 1993. Enfield: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 121. ISBN 0-85112-978-1. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
^ Chartres, John (18 December 1970). "'Spaghetti Junction' opens, without warning signs". The Times. London. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
^ Johnson, W.M. (2000), "A627(M) Rochdale–Oldham Motorway", Lancashire County Council website accessed 28 June 2011
^ Driver Location Signs, Highway Agency Area 10 (map) - Highway Authority, 2009

53°37′37″N 2°35′10″W / 53.6270°N 2.5862°W / 53.6270; -2.5862

This England road or road transport-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] British Roads Database www.cbrd.co.uk URL accessed 18 February 2008

[2] "The number's up for Britain's roads". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited. October 2002. Retrieved 18 February 2008. The west side of Manchester is notoriously busy and holds the record for the widest section of motorway - an impressive 17 lanes where the M61 and M60 meet.

[3] Matthews, Peter (ed) (1992). The Guinness Book of Records 1993. Enfield: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 121. ISBN 0-85112-978-1. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

[4] Chartres, John (18 December 1970). "'Spaghetti Junction' opens, without warning signs". The Times. London. Retrieved 21 June 2012.

[5] Johnson, W.M. (2000), "A627(M) Rochdale–Oldham Motorway", Lancashire County Council website accessed 28 June 2011

[6] Driver Location Signs, Highway Agency Area 10 (map) - Highway Authority, 2009

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@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 {| border=1 cellpadding=2 style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom: 1em; color: black; border-collapse: collapse; class="wikitable"
 |- align="center" bgcolor="0080d0" style="color: white;font-size:120%;"
-| colspan="4" | M61 motorway
+| colspan="5" | M61 motorway
 |- align="center" bgcolor="000000" style="color: white"
+|mile
 |km
 | Northbound exits
@@ Line 43: / Line 44: @@
 | Southbound exits
 |- align="center"
+|
 |
 | The North, [[Lancaster, Lancashire|Lancaster]] M6
@@ Line 48: / Line 50: @@
 | ''Start of motorway''
 |- align="center"
+|20.6
 |33.2
 | [[Blackburn]], [[Burnley]], Preston (South) M65
@@ Line 53: / Line 56: @@
 | Blackburn, Burnley, Preston (South) M65
 |- align="center"
+|17.1
 |27.6
 | Chorley, [[Whittle-le-Woods]] [[A674 road|A674]] ([[A6 road (Great Britain)|A6]])
@@ Line 58: / Line 62: @@
 | Chorley, Whittle-le-Woods A674 (A6)
 |- align="center"
+|
 |
 | ''[[Rivington services]]''
@@ Line 63: / Line 68: @@
 |''Rivington services''
 |- align="center"
+|9.6
 |15.4
 | [[Horwich]] (A673) <br>Chorley (A6)
@@ Line 68: / Line 74: @@
 | Bolton (West), <br> Horwich ([[A673 road|A673]])
 |- align="center"
+|7.0
 |11.2
 | Wigan, Bolton, Westhoughton [[A58 road|A58]]
@@ Line 73: / Line 80: @@
 | Bolton, Westhoughton A58
 |- align="center"
+|5.1
 |8.2
 | Atherton, Leigh A6
@@ Line 78: / Line 86: @@
 | Walkden A6
 |- align="center"
+|2.8
 |4.5
 |{{no2}}No access
@@ Line 83: / Line 92: @@
 | Bolton (A666)
 |- align="center"
+|
 |
 | Bolton (A666)
@@ Line 88: / Line 98: @@
 | Manchester (Central) (A580)
 |- align="center"
+|
 |
 | ''Start of motorway''