Route 9 in the Road Plan for Lancashire 1949 was described as 'tapping the industrial area of East Lancashire north of Manchester'. It was intended to replace the A56 as far as the northern termination of the proposed Bury By-pass, it would follow the existing A56 Trunk Road to Edenfield, and then the A580 corridor to its junction with Route 8 near Whalley. Haslingden would be by-passed. Burnley and Blackburn traffic would connect with the Route at Edenfield and Haslingden respectively.
Middleton Link interchangeIt was included within the category of 'Express (1st Group) Routes'. They would all have dual carriageways and almost 50% of the total length would be designed and constructed to 'motorway standard'.
At its southern end, the first section of the Route was the one mile length of the proposed Middleton Link which subsequently, became part of the Manchester Outer Ring Road M60. The scheme, which included a substantial bridge carrying Simister Lane and a pedestrian footbridge, was built concurrently with the M62 contracts. It included an interchange with M62 and extended in a south-easterly direction to a junction with the A576 at Higher Blackley. The intechange was designed to accommodate a three-level configuration pending the completion of the Bury Easterly By-pass Southern section
The contract was was undertaken by Lancashire County Council as a Trunk Road Agency scheme and work began in early 1970. It was completed and opened to traffic in 1971, at the same time as the M62 section from Whitefield to the County Boundary.
The construction of the final section of the M60, Denton to Middleton (J19 to J24), included substantial realignment, widening and reconstruction of the Middleton Link south of Simister Lane.
M60 Middleton Link (formerly part of M66) (J19 to J18)
Statistics and options
| Section | Construction started | Opened to traffic |
| Middleton Link | February 1970 | October 1971 |
| Upgrade Middleton Link | June 1993 | February 1996 |
No data as yet.
