M55 motorway
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| M55 motorway | |
| Length | 11.4 miles 18.4 km |
| Direction | East - West |
| Start | Fulwood, Lancashire |
| Primary destinations | Preston |
| End | Blackpool |
| Construction dates | 1958 (Preston bypass) 1975 - entire motorway |
| Motorways joined |  M6 motorway |
The M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England, which can also be referred to as the Preston Northern Bypass. It connects the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 at Preston. It is 11.4 miles (18.4 km) in length.
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[edit] Route
The M55 has three lanes in both directions for its entire length. After leaving the M6 at junction 32, the road immediately interchanges with the A6. It then crosses the West Coast Main Line and Lancaster Canal before passing north of Wesham to meet junction 3. It then continues west in a rural setting to meet junction 4, where the motorway ends and becomes the A5230. The western part of the M55, and the first few hundred metres of the A5230, occupy the route of the old Blackpool Branch railway line.
[edit] History
The first motorway constructed in Great Britain was the M6 Preston Bypass, opened in 1958. This ran from the current M6 junction 29 to the M55 junction 1. It was built as a 2 lane route. In 1965 the M6 was extended north from what is the current day junction 32 to meet the Lancaster Bypass<ref>Route 6 - M6 timeline</ref>. The M6 junction was rebuilt to its current design to connect the A6 at the now M55 junction 1<ref name="ma">The Motorway Database - M55 scheme page</ref>. Due to increasing traffic, it was decided to provide a motorway link to Blackpool and this road was opened in 1975.
[edit] Unfulfilled Plans
Junction 2 was not built at the same time as the motorway, though the number was left free<ref name="cbrd">CBRD Motorway Database - M55</ref>. A proposed South Ribble link road would have involved the extension of the M65 motorway around the west of Preston to link to the M55 at the missing junction. The link road proposal has been dormant since the mid-1990s. Between 1993 and 1995, the M6 around the east of Preston was widened to four lanes, making the link road proposal less likely.
[edit] Junctions
| M55 Motorway | ||
| Eastbound exits | Junction | Westbound exits |
| The NORTH WEST, Lancaster M6 The SOUTH, Manchester (M61), Liverpool (M58) | M6 J32 | Start of Motorway |
| Preston, Broughton A6 | J1 Broughton Roundabout | Preston, Broughton A6 |
| Kirkham, Fleetwood A585 | J3 Wesham Circle | Kirkham, Poulton-le-Fylde, Fleetwood A585 |
| Great Marton, North Shore A583 | J4 Marton Circle | Great Marton, North Shore A583 |
| Start of Motorway | Road continues as A5230 to Blackpool, Airport and Lytham St Anne's | |
[edit] Trivia
During construction of the M55, the Jaguar military aircraft made a test landing on the motorway, in order to prove its capability to use makeshift runways in time of war<ref name="ma" />.
The army blockade in the film 28 Days Later was filmed at the eastern end of the motorway. The signpost for Fleetwood and Blackpool is visible in the background and the main character actually climbs on top of it at one point.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] External links
- CBRD Motorway Database - M55
- Lancashire County Council - Historic Highways - M55
- The Motorway Archive - M55
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