M6 Motorway
What is Britains oldest motorway? The M1? The M4? Actually it is a 9 mile stretch of the M6, between junctions 29 and 32 and including a tiny bit of the M55, this was the Preston Bypass a two lane road similar to the motorway pictured left. This first section was opened on 5th December 1958.
This little section expanded over the next 13 years to become Britain's longest Motorways and one of the busiest. In time most motorways where built 3 lane with the Preston bypass being converted to 3 lanes in the mid 1960's and 4 lanes in the late 1990's
A6 Replacement
In this section we look at the history of the M6 along with other roads that effectively replaced the A6 including the M61, M60, M40, parts of the M1 and A50 and how these roads have become to be used in preference to the older A6. This over the years has lead to many parts on the A6 become a non primary local route rather than one of the countries main Trunk Roads.
Even before the motorways came travellers rarely used all of the A6. The A6 was one of the most urban roads on the trunk road network, it also climbed over shap fells and the pennines around Buxton. In preverance to using the A6 northern drivers heading for London often headed for either the A1 or the A5 we also track these routes in this section
