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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by | ||||
| Length | 25.8 mi (41.5 km) | |||
| Existed | 1981–present | |||
| History |
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| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | Preston South | |||
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| East end | Colne | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Counties | Lancashire | |||
| Primary destinations | ||||
| Road network | ||||
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The M65 is a motorway between Preston and Colne in Lancashire, England. It runs from Bamber Bridge just south of Preston, through major junctions with the M6 and M61 motorways, east past Darwen, Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Brierfield, Nelson and ends at Colne.
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(April 2009) |
The M65 was opened in the following sections: [1]
The first section of the motorway was opened in 1981, connecting Burnley to Brierfield. Over the years, several extensions were made, the largest being the link from Whitebirk to the M6 and M61 motorways in 1997. [2] [3] [4]
This extension was the scene of a standoff between construction security workers and protesters forming part of the environmental direct action movement. Protesters occupied abandoned buildings in Darwen, parts of Stanworth Woods near Feniscowles and needed to be physically removed. [5]
Junctions 1a to 6 were opened 18 December 1997 by Jack Straw, Home Secretary and Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn. The opening ceremony took place on the westbound carriageway beneath junction 5 at Guide with a heavy police presence as protesters threatened to bring a halt to the proceedings.
Much of the 1997 extension was relaid shortly after it opened with a new, quieter tarmac because the amount of road noise had been so great that it prevented birds of prey (mainly owls) from foraging effectively.
Originally, the M65 was planned to go via the town centre of Blackburn. [6]
The motorway is maintained by National Highways up to Junction 10 with Lancashire County Council taking over responsibility from this junction until the end of the motorway at Junction 14.
| | This section needs additional citations for verification .(December 2008) |
When the M65 was extended, a slip road was built at Walton Summit, southeast of Preston, from the roundabout linking junction 9 of the M61 with junction 2 of the M65 to the Walton Summit industrial estate. It is a single-carriageway road, with two lanes towards the junction (uphill) and one away (downhill). It is around 600 yards long and replaced an A-road spur of the A6 that was built in the 1980s.[ citation needed ]
According to the statutory instrument that authorised its construction, the road is officially classified as a 'special link road to connect the [M65/M61 roundabout] with the all-purpose road known as Tramway Lane'. [7] According to Lancashire County Council, it is the 'M61 Link Tramway Lane to Junction 9' and is part of the M61. [8] In 2007, the approach signs from Walton Summit were modified to read 'M61', but the signs still mark the roundabout at the eastern end.
Each motorway in England requires that a statutory instrument be published, detailing the route of the road, before it can be built. The dates given on these statutory instruments relate to when the document was published, and not when the road was built. Provided below is an incomplete list of statutory instruments relating to the route of the M65.
The entire route is in Lancashire.
| Location | mi | km | Junction | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bamber Bridge | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1A [coord 1] |   A6 / A582 – Preston, Bamber Bridge | ||
| 0.8 | 1.3 | 1 [coord 2] |  M6 – The South, Birmingham, The North West, Lancaster | Also M6 Junction 29 | ||
| 2.2 | 3.5 | 2 [coord 3] |  M61 – Manchester, The North West, Lancaster | Also M61 Junction 9 | ||
| — | 4.9 | 7.9 | 3 [coord 4] |  A674 – Blackburn (West) A675 – Bolton | ||
| Blackburn | 8.4 | 13.5 | 4 [coord 5] |  A666 – Blackburn (South), Bolton, Darwen | Blackburn with Darwen services | |
| 10.1 | 16.3 | 5 [coord 6] |  A6077 / B6232 – Shadsworth | |||
| 12.4 | 20.0 | 6 [coord 7] |  A678 – Blackburn (North & East) | |||
| Accrington | 14.5 | 23.3 | 7 [coord 8] |  A6185 – Accrington, Clitheroe | ||
| — | 17.3 | 27.8 | 8 [coord 9] |  A56 – Bury, Manchester  A6068 – Clitheroe | ||
| 18.5 | 29.8 | 9 [coord 10] |  A679 – Burnley (West) | no eastbound entrance or westbound exit | ||
| Burnley | 19.9 | 32.0 | 10 [coord 11] |  A671 – Padiham, Burnley (Central) | ||
| 20.8 | 33.5 | 11 [coord 12] | B6434 – Burnley, Nelson | no westbound entrance or eastbound exit | ||
| Nelson | 23.4 | 37.7 | 12 [coord 13] |  A682 – Nelson, Brierfield | ||
| 24.5 | 39.4 | 13 [coord 14] | A682 – Nelson, Kendal | |||
| Colne | 25.9 | 41.7 | — [coord 15] | A6068 – Skipton, Keighley, Nelson, Colne | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||||
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,417,397 in 2021. It is the third-most-populated region in the United Kingdom, after the South East and Greater London. The largest settlements are Manchester and Liverpool.
The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over 230 miles (370 km) from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby before heading north-west. It passes Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Preston, Lancaster and Carlisle before terminating at Junction 45 near Gretna. Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74(M) which continues to Glasgow as the M74. Its busiest sections are between junctions 4 and 10a in the West Midlands, and junctions 16 to 19 in Cheshire; these sections have now been converted to smart motorways.
The A6 is one of the main north–south roads in England. It runs from Luton in Bedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria, although it formerly started at a junction with the A1 at Barnet in north London, and is described as running from London to Carlisle.
The M61 is a motorway in North West England between Manchester and Preston, linking the M60 Manchester orbital motorway with the M6
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 12.2 miles (19.6 km) in length.
The M58 is a motorway passing through Merseyside and Lancashire, terminating in Greater Manchester. It is 12 miles (19.3 km) long and provides a link between the M6 motorway and the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton and hence on, via the A5036, to the Mersey docks in Liverpool and Birkenhead.
The M66, also known as the Bury Easterly Bypass, is a motorway in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is 8 miles (13 km) long and provides part of the route between the M62 and M60 motorways and the M65, with the rest being provided by the A56.
Nelson is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, it had a population of 29,135 in the 2011 Census. Nelson is 3 miles (5 km) north of Burnley and 2 miles (3 km) south-west of Colne. Nelson developed as a mill town during the Industrial Revolution.
Whitebirk is a suburb in the east of Blackburn, in Lancashire, England. Most of the suburb is in the borough of Blackburn with Darwen, with the east of the suburb being in the borough of Hyndburn. Whitebirk is part of the Blackburn urban area. The area is largely industrial, and is the eastern terminus of the town's northern bypass, the A6119, where it meets Junction 6 of the M65.
Bamber Bridge railway station serves the village of Bamber Bridge in Lancashire, England. It is situated on the East Lancashire Line and is managed by Northern.
Clayton-le-Woods is a large village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. According to the census of 2001, it has a population of 14,528. At the 2011 census the population of Cuerden civil parish was included within Clayton-le-Woods, giving a total of 14,532.
Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bridge like to be known as Briggers.
Clayton Brook is a large residential estate in Lancashire, between the city of Preston and the town of Chorley. It forms part of the Clayton-le-Woods civil parish, and is in the Clayton-le-Woods North ward of the borough of Chorley.
The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as the dense urban sprawl of inner city Manchester and the lightly populated region of rural east Lancashire. The road includes a short section of trunk road between the end of the M66 motorway near Ramsbottom and the M65 motorway west of Burnley.
Rose Grove railway station in Lancashire, England serves the Rose Grove area in the west of Burnley, and the nearby town of Padiham. It is served by both the Calder Valley Line and the East Lancashire Line. It was once the terminus of the Great Harwood Loop between Blackburn and Burnley via Great Harwood and Padiham. The station is now a junction station for both the Calder Valley and East Lancashire lines.
Colne Water is a river in eastern Lancashire. It is approximately 5.0 miles (7.987 km) long and has a catchment area excluding its major tributaries of 4.47 square miles (11.584 km2).
The A678 is a road in Lancashire, England, which runs between the towns of Blackburn and Padiham.
Preston is a city in Lancashire, around 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-west of Manchester.
Walton Summit is an industrial area between Clayton Brook and Bamber Bridge, near Preston in Lancashire, England. It is in the South Ribble district. It is near the M61, M65 and M6 motorways and has a short length of single carriageway motorway from the M65/M61 roundabout. Walton Summit also includes the smaller area of Seed Lee.
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