M61. Manchester to Preston

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.


Key Dates

 

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

 

 


Archive Information

M61. Manchester to Preston

 

 

The full archive for this scheme is stored at the Lancashire CC Record Office.  Click to see details of this record office, then delete the popup page to return.  There is not yet an Accession Number for this data. 

 
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

 

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