The 1949 Road Plan had proposed an Express Route between Manchester and Preston, to be achieved by improving sections of the A6 and constructing several town and village bypasses. However, by the early 1960's it became evident that there was a strong case for building a motorway, linking the proposed M62 at Worsley with the M6 near Preston.
In 1963, Lancashire County Council was appointed as the Minister's Agent Authority for the preparation and design of the motorway and the statutory procedures were completed for three separate sections.
The route of the motorway north of Chorley crossed the south end of the Lancaster Canal at three points. As the canal was already disused and rapidly deteriorating, it was agreed by the Ministry of Transport and British Waterways Board that the expense of bridging the canal was not justified. The Board therefore promoted a Bill in Parliament to denavigate the canal between Town Lane, Whittle-le-Woods and Walton Summit, a length of three miles. A scheme was then prepared by the Board to fill in the canal with a view to returning the land to agriculture, where possible, and the Ministry agreed to meet the cost of providing unsuitable material from the motorway cuttings.
M61. Manchester to Preston
Statistics and options.
| Section | Construction started | Opened to traffic |
|
Worsley Braided Interchange to Horwich - Advanced works |
Feb 1967 & Feb 1968 |
December 1970 |
| WBI to Horwich - Main works | January 1969 | |
|
Horwich to Preston - Advanced works |
January 1967 |
November 1969 |
| Northern contract | January 1968 | |
| Southern contract | June 1968 |
| ITEM | DESCRIPTION | DATE | AUTHOR/ORIGINATOR |
|
1 |
Extract from 'Building the network: The North West of England' (6 pages) |
2005 | H L Yeadon The Motorway Archive Trust |
| 2 | Recollections of the construction of M61 ( 3 pages) |
1998 |
R Greatrix MBE |
| 3 | Memories of the construction of M61 and M62 (4 pages) |
1998 |
R Greatrix MBE |
| 4 | Diagrammatic description of bridgeworks (5 pages) |
1967 |
County Surveyor and Bridgemaster |
| 5 | Horwich Link to Preston By-pass Opening Brochure (11 pages) |
28 November 1969 |
NWRCU Lancashire sub-unit |
| 6 | Motorways in Lancashire under construction (14 pages) |
1969 |
NWRCU Lancashire sub-unit |
| 7 | Farnworth - Kearsley By-pass Opened 21 December 1967 (25 pages) |
2000 |
W M Johnson MBE |
| 8 | Eastern Limb of the Inner Relief Road (Bolton) Official Opening (25 pages) |
21 December 1971 |
G F Read Bolton CBC |
| 9 | Horwich to Worsley Section Rider's Farm Bridge Reminiscences (1 page) |
1967 |
R H N Sinclair |
| 10 | The Construction of Motorways in Lancashire (20 pages) |
1970 |
Lancashire County Council |
| 11 | Contract M61/2 Advance contract - Peat removal at Worsley Braided Interchange (2 pages) |
1970 |
R C Roscoe Resident Engineer |
| 12 | Contract M61/2 Advance contract - Peat removal at Worsley Braided Interchange (3 pages) |
1970 |
P R Whiting Costain |
| 13 | Contract M61/7 Worsley Braided Interchange to Horwich Link (Basic information file) (7 pages) |
1969 |
NWRCU Lancashire sub-unit |
| 14 | Contract M61/7 Worsley Braided Interchange to Horwich Link (4 pages) |
1970 |
C Young MBE |
| 15 | Contract M61/7 Worsley Braided Interchange to Horwich Link (3 pages) |
1970 |
B W Stanley Sir Alfred McAlpine & Son Ltd |
| 16 | Contract M61/7 Worsley Braided Interchange to Horwich Link (2 pages) |
1970 |
B Taylor Leonard Fairclough Ltd |
| 17 | Personal Memories (7 pages) |
2000 |
A C Henry |
| 18 | Linking the M62 and M61 Motorways in Lancashire (11 pages) |
April 1971 |
Roads and Road Construction |
| 19 | M61- M62 Motorways and The Worsley Braided Interchange Official Opening Brochure (20 pages) |
17 December 1970 |
NWRCU Lancashire sub-unit |
| 20 | Slope stability Paper covering case histories of four rock slips in the construction of the M61 and M62 (9 pages) |
1970 |
E J Arrowsmith |
