Preston Bypass

Last updated

Preston Bypass
Preston by-pass modern map.png
Shown in blue on a map of 1961
Route information
Length8.26 mi (13.29 km)
HistoryOpened in 1958, upgraded and rebuilt in 1995
Major junctions
South end A6  – Bamber Bridge
Major intersections
North end A6  – Broughton
Location
Country United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Road network

The Preston Bypass was the United Kingdom's first motorway, opened in 1958. It was designed and engineered by Lancashire County Council surveyor James Drake as part of a larger initiative to create a north-south motorway network that would later form part of the M6 motorway. The original 8+1⁄4-mile (13.3 km) motorway ran around the east side of Preston between Bamber Bridge (now the M6, Junction 29) and Broughton (now the M55, Junction 1) and crossed over the River Ribble at Samlesbury at the M6 Junction 31.

Contents

Planning started in 1937, despite the lack of legal powers permitting motorway construction until the introduction of the Special Roads Act 1949. Early work was hampered by heavy rainfall, resulting in the postponement of various heavy engineering works, such as the base foundation; the result of the weather meant the original two-year plan was delayed by a further five months. The bypass was opened on 5 December 1958 by the then Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan. Nearly £3 million was spent on its construction. Weeks after opening, the road had to close temporarily due to water causing other problems when the base layer was damaged by a rapid freeze and thaw cycle.

The bypass underwent two separate lane-widening schemes, first in 1966 when it was widened to three lanes, then in the 1990s to expand to four lanes in each direction. The latter upgrade was significant enough to require reconstruction of the entire route, including all bridges, and it is now effectively a different motorway from the one that opened in 1958. As a result, the oldest surviving British motorways today are the M1 (between Junctions 5 and 18) and the full length of the M45 which both opened one year after the Preston Bypass. [1]

History

Planning

Before the motorway was constructed, the A6 through Preston handled north-south traffic, leading to frequent tailbacks and congestion, especially during special events like the Blackpool Illuminations. Planning for the route began as early as 1937–1938, [2] and by the mid-1940s, Lancashire County Council still deemed the basic alignment feasible. In 1938, Chief Engineer James Drake was part of a delegation from Lancashire that travelled to Germany to gather insights for the plan. The proposed route was incorporated into the County Surveyors' Society's national proposals and was subsequently protected by Lancashire County Council from future developments. [3]

At the time, the legal framework for motorway construction was lacking until the introduction of the Special Roads Act in 1949, which permitted the building of roads designated for specific classes of vehicles. [4] The bypass was seen as an experiment for future motorway construction, providing valuable lessons and techniques that would contribute to the success of future projects. When the proposals were made public, including a large-scale model to ease explanation, only a handful of formal objections were raised. These were resolved amicably, largely due to the close involvement of Lancashire County Council and the surveyor during the consultation process, eliminating the need for a public inquiry. [5]

The Tarmac Group won the construction contract in 1956, which included the building of 19 bridges. John Cox was appointed as the onsite engineer to oversee the construction. [6]

Construction

The bypass under construction, 5 December 1958 Preston bypass construction 1.jpg
The bypass under construction, 5 December 1958

The road was originally built with two lanes in each direction and a wide central reservation to accommodate a future third lane. The compromise between the Ministry of Transport and Drake arose from concerns that two lanes would be inadequate. Initially, the shoulders were hardened with gravel but unpaved, [7] reflecting the British term "hard shoulder". A hedge was planted along the central reservation to help reduce dazzle from oncoming headlights at night. To combat driver boredom, the design included curves, various bridges and tree planting, avoiding long, straight stretches. [4]

During early construction, some land was unavailable due to 75 agreements with landowners, including clauses allowing farmers to complete their harvests before work began. [8] The initial plan for the embankments had to be adjusted; excessive rainfall rendered the earth unsuitable, leading to the importation of hundreds of thousands of tons of hard fill from around Lancashire. Earth-moving works could only be done efficiently from March to June, while conditions from July to October would be too sodden and impossible during winter. [8] In total, 3,400,000 tonnes (3,300,000 long tons) of earth was excavated, with a further 668,000 tonnes (657,000 long tons) of material imported for filling. [4] The sub-base consisted of burnt colliery shale with thickness dependent upon the ground conditions, followed by a layer of wet mix around 9 inches (23 cm) thick and topped with 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) of tarmac lined with 0.5 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) of asphalt. The unexpected discovery of a bog in the Ribble valley also required removal. [8] The project involved constructing 22 bridges, for which designers had considerable creative freedom. Drake proposed painting the bridges in various colours to enhance aesthetics and reduce driver monotony, a suggestion that was well received. [5]

Originally scheduled for two years, the construction period was extended by nearly 25% due to persistent rainfall, particularly in late 1956, which delayed critical foundation work until early 1957. [4] During the first nine months of construction, working conditions were so bad that the main contractor, Tarmac Ltd, had an extension of five months granted due to the challenging weather conditions, pushing the date of completion back to 30 November 1958. At its peak, 750 men and around 24 engineers worked alongside 50 crawler tractors, 24 excavators, 12 dump trucks, and around 100 lorries. [8]

Valuable lessons were learned from the construction of Britain's first motorway, particularly towards using an appropriately screened base material, effective water drainage systems and the inclusion of continuous hard shoulders. [5]

Opening

Plaque to commemorate the opening of the bypass Preston By-Pass opening plaque.jpg
Plaque to commemorate the opening of the bypass

The bypass was opened on 5 December 1958 by the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, [4] who said: "In the years to come, the county and the country alike may look at the Preston bypass - a fine thing in itself but a finer thing as a symbol - as a token of what was to follow". [9] It had cost £2,960,481 (equivalent to £87,400,000in 2023), of which almost £2.5M was for construction of the motorway itself and over £500,000 was for the construction of two required major bridges, those being the Samlesbury Bridge (£334,431) and the High Walton Bridge (£193,690) respectively. [4] It was estimated that around a third of the total cost was on the bridges alone, a point questioned by the Birmingham Post , who noted that in percentage terms, it would not have cost significantly more to build the motorway as three lanes, compared to doing so retrospectively in the years to follow. [10]

Macmillan became the first man in Britain to travel on a motorway as a passenger in an Austin Sheerline limousine, setting off from what is now junction 31 on the M6 motorway. [11] Many hundreds of people gathered at the interchange in Samlesbury to witness the official opening, of whom many had participated in the construction and were proud of what they had achieved. [6]

Operation

The bypass being used shortly after opening, 1958 Preston bypass operation 1958 1.jpg
The bypass being used shortly after opening, 1958

The motorway was designed to be capable of handling vehicles at speeds of 70 mph (110 km/h), [5] although there was no speed limit on UK motorways until 1965. [12] Lancashire Police estimated that 2,300 cars were using the road each day within the first month of opening, which was considerably less than the road's capacity. [13] The Coventry Evening Telegraph suggested in the first weeks after opening that the motorway was losing several hundred pounds a day, factoring in the lower than expected usage compared against the construction cost. Initially, the motorway took over 1,500 cars an hour, mostly sightseers driving for the experience; however, large queues at the northern roundabout terminus resulted in considerable lost journey time on a road intended to reduce journey times significantly. [14]

During the early period of operation, drivers reported being apprehensive about using the motorway through fear of faster drivers overtaking them, with average speeds recorded as being around 38 mph (61 km/h), [15] despite police records for the month ending 23 May 1959 showing no vehicle being driven faster than 75 mph (121 km/h). [16] Shortly after opening, the motorway saw its first two minor incidents; each was as a result of inexperienced drivers (in one case, an underage driver) being unfamiliar with motorway driving and losing control of their vehicles. [17]

On 21 January 1959, just 46 days after opening, [6] the motorway had to close temporarily to undergo emergency resurfacing work, as water had drained into the hard shoulder and seeped into the base layer. This subsequently suffered as a result of frost weathering, resulting in crumbling road parts [7] affecting approximately 1% of the surface. [18] The cost of repairs was around £5,000 (equivalent to £150,000in 2023), [19] as quoted by then-Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Harold Watkinson; additional drainage systems were also installed alongside the carriageway at the cost of £90,000 [20] (equivalent to £2,600,000in 2023). [19]

Upgrades

An additional third lane was added in each direction in 1966 using the land reserved within the central reservation without modifying existing bridges. Despite the relative ease in this work, the lack of hard shoulders at the bridges meant the number of available lanes during engineering works was inadequate to cope with the traffic volumes of the time, estimated to have been in the region of 140,000 vehicles daily. [5] Construction of the M61 motorway in 1969–1970 to carry Manchester traffic northbound had its northern terminus connect to a new junction on the bypass at Bamber Bridge, requiring the construction of Blacow Bridge to carry the northbound M61 traffic over the M6. [21]

The bypass underwent significant work during the early 1990s when it was completely rebuilt to become four lanes in each direction. All the bridges needed removing so a hard shoulder could be provided, despite most of them having a design lifespan of 120 years. [6] The bid to undertake the work was awarded to Balfour Beatty in February 1993, at a cost of £37,458,986 [22] (equivalent to £96,379,000in 2023). [19] The upgrade meant that the bypass was entirely reconstructed and is now effectively a different motorway from the original. [23] The four-lane motorway had been initially proposed back in 1924 when the idea was quickly dismissed after pressure mounted from railway lobbyists. [24]

Route

Preston bypass route (left: 1958, right: 2017) Preston bypass route.png
Preston bypass route (left: 1958, right: 2017)

Despite the motorway passing through industrial areas, the proposed route alignment meant that property demolition was kept to a minimum, with just a single farmhouse and three dwellings requiring demolition. The route was constructed through four separate localities, including 1.65 miles (2.66 km) through the County Borough of Preston, 2.54 miles (4.09 km) through the Urban District of Walton-le-Dale, 1.77 miles (2.85 km) through the Urban District of Fulwood and 2.30 miles (3.70 km) through the Rural District of Preston. [4]

Initially, there were a total of 22 bridges built under or over the motorway, such as a principal bridge at Samlesbury which carried traffic over the River Ribble and the A59 trunk road, the only junction upon opening; the other principal bridge was at Higher Walton, carrying traffic over the River Darwen and the A675 road. The overall width of the motorway was 112 ft (34 m), 24 ft (7.3 m) for each carriageway, 14 ft (4.3 m) for the verges and a 32 ft (9.8 m) central reservation. [4]

The routes around Preston, including the bypass as part of the modern-day M6 motorway, are recognised as being some of the most congested in the UK, with traffic to and from Preston being labelled amongst the country’s top 25 most congested routes. [25]

Preston Bypass
milekmNorthbound exits (A carriageway)JunctionSouthbound exits (B carriageway)Coordinates
Continues as the M55 motorway to Blackpool, Fleetwood
Preston, Garstang A6 M55 J1
Broughton Roundabout		Preston, Garstang A6
8.0
7.5		12.9
12.1		 The Lakes, Lancaster M6M6 J32
The North, The Lakes, Lancaster M6 53°48′24″N2°41′52″W / 53.8068°N 2.6978°W / 53.8068; -2.6978 (M6, J32)
6
5.8		9.6
9.3		Preston (East), Longridge B6242 M6 J31ANo access 53°47′20″N2°39′30″W / 53.7889°N 2.6583°W / 53.7889; -2.6583 (M6, J31A)
4.1
3.5		6.6
5.6		Preston (Central), Blackburn (North), Clitheroe A59 M6 J31Preston (Central), Clitheroe A59 53°45′54″N2°38′09″W / 53.7649°N 2.6359°W / 53.7649; -2.6359 (M6, J31)
1.9
1.4		3.0
2.3		No accessM6 J30 Manchester, Bolton M61
Leeds (M62)
Blackburn (M65)		 53°44′03″N2°38′52″W / 53.7343°N 2.6477°W / 53.7343; -2.6477 (M6, J30)
0.4
0		0.7
0		 Burnley, Blackburn, Preston (South) M65 M6 J29Burnley, Blackburn M65 53°42′58″N2°39′39″W / 53.7162°N 2.6608°W / 53.7162; -2.6608 (M6, J29)
Continues as the M6 motorway to Birmingham
Only the contemporary Junction 31 existed on the original bypass formation

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster Canal</span> Canal in Northwest England

The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria. The section around the crossing of the River Ribble was never completed, and much of the southern end leased to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, of which it is now generally considered part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M6 motorway</span> Longest motorway in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1 motorway</span> First inter-urban motorway in the UK

The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M62 motorway</span> Motorway in the United Kingdom

The M62 is a 107-mile-long (172 km) west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; 7 miles (11 km) of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A6 road (England)</span> North-south road in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A38 road</span> Trunk road in England

The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M20 motorway</span> Motorway in Kent, England

The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It follows on from the A20 at Swanley, meeting the M25, and continuing on to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is 50.6 miles (81.4 km) long. Although not signposted in England, this road is part of the European route E15. It is also used as a holding area for goods traffic when traffic across the English Channel is disrupted, such as Operation Stack and Operation Brock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M56 motorway</span> Motorway in England

The M56 motorway serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately four miles north of Chester. With a length of 33.3 miles (53.6 km), it connects North Wales and the Wirral peninsula with much of the rest of North West England, serves business and commuter traffic heading towards Manchester, particularly that from the wider Cheshire area, and provides the main road access to Manchester Airport from the national motorway network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A14 road (England)</span> Major road in England

The A14 is a major trunk road in England, running 127 miles (204 km) from Catthorpe Interchange, a major intersection at the southern end of the M6 and junction 19 of the M1 in Leicestershire to the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E24 and E30. It is the busiest shipping lane in East Anglia carrying anything from cars to large amounts of cargo between the UK and Mainland Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M65 motorway</span> Motorway in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M61 motorway</span> Motorway in North West England

The M61 is a motorway in North West England between Manchester and Preston, linking the M60 Manchester orbital motorway with the M6 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A59 road</span> Road in Northern England

The A59 is a major road in England which is around 109 miles (175 km) long and runs from Wallasey, Merseyside to York, North Yorkshire. The alignment formed part of the Trunk Roads Act 1936, being then designated as the A59. It is a key route connecting Merseyside at the M53 motorway to Yorkshire, passing through three counties and connecting to various major motorways. The road is a combination of historical routes combined with contemporary roads and a mixture of dual and single carriageway. Some sections of the A59 in Yorkshire closely follow the routes of Roman roads, some dating back to the Middle Ages as salt roads, whilst much of the A59 in Merseyside follows Victorian routes which are largely unchanged to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M55 motorway</span> Preston–Blackpool motorway in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M58 motorway</span> Motorway in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A500 road</span> Road in England

The A500 is a major primary A road in Staffordshire and Cheshire, England. It is dual carriageway for most of its length and connects Nantwich, junctions 16 and 15 of the M6 motorway with the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is 19 miles (31 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A583 road</span> Preston to Blackpool road in England

The A583 is a primary road from Preston to Blackpool in England, via Kirkham. It runs a distance of 17 miles (27.4 km), and was previously the main route into Blackpool until the construction of the M55 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higher Walton, Lancashire</span> Settlement in England

Higher Walton is a village in South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is on the old road between Blackburn and Preston where it crosses the River Darwen. The road, at this point, is now part of the A675. Nearby places include Walton-le-Dale, Coupe Green, and Bamber Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorways in the Republic of Ireland</span>

In Ireland, the highest category of road is a motorway, indicated by the prefix M followed by a one- or two-digit number. The motorway network consists entirely of motorway-grade dual carriageways and is largely focused upon Dublin. There are also several three-lane motorways, while Ireland's busiest road, the M50, incorporates four-lane, five-lane, and six-lane stretches.

Sir James Drake was a British chartered civil engineer who is regarded as the pioneer of the national motorway network in the United Kingdom. As the county surveyor and bridgemaster of Lancashire County Council from 1945 to 1972 he led teams that designed the first stretch of motorway opened to the public, the Preston By-pass on 5 December 1958. There then followed numerous contracts to extend the motorway in the north west of England, which, thanks to his role, probably still has the greatest density of motorways in the country. He was appointed a CBE in 1962 for his services as County Surveyor and Bridgemaster of Lancashire County Council and in 1973 he was knighted in recognition of his role as head of the North West Road Construction Unit and the Lancashire Sub-Unit, organisations that further extended his initial work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Preston</span>

Preston is a city in Lancashire, around 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-west of Manchester.

References

  1. ↑ "Oldest UK motorways". Oudtshoorn Courant. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  2. ↑ Marshall, Chris. "Preston Bypass". cbrd.co.uk. Chris Marshall. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "UK Motorways, 1958–2008". Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation: 13. November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Preston By-Pass – Official Opening Booklet" (PDF). Lancashire County Council. 5 December 1958. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "M6 Preston By-pass (J29 to J32)". The Motorway Archive. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Chapter 12. Britain's First Motorway: The Preston By-pass". The Motorway Archive. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Marking 50 years of UK motorways". BBC News. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Building the motorway". The Guardian. 5 December 1958. p. 16.
  9. ↑ Sefryn Penrose (2010). Images of Change: an archaeology of England's contemporary landscape. English Heritage. p. 25. ISBN   9781848020719.
  10. ↑ "May Be Costly". The Birmingham Post. 24 April 1958. p. 41.
  11. ↑ "The drive of our lives: 50 Years of Britain's motorways". The Independent. 24 November 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  12. ↑ "70 M.P.H. Limit For Four Months". The Times. 25 November 1965. p. 12.
  13. ↑ Moran, Joe (27 May 2010). On Roads: A Hidden History. Profile Books. p. 179. ISBN   978-1-84668-060-1.
  14. ↑ "The £1,000-a-day that must be met". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 26 January 1959. p. 8.
  15. ↑ Moran, Joe (27 May 2010). On Roads: A Hidden History. Profile Books. p. 174. ISBN   978-1-84668-060-1.
  16. ↑ "Special Roads (1959)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Commons. 17 July 1959. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "Preston Bypass – A new era of motoring". CBRD. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  18. ↑ "Preston by Pass Closure (1959)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Commons. 28 January 1959. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  19. 1 2 3 UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth . Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  20. ↑ "Preston by Pass (1959)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Written Answers. 4 February 1959. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  21. ↑ "Road Construction Contracts (1994)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Written Answers. 23 May 1994. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  22. ↑ "Preston Bypass Epilogue". CRBD. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  23. ↑ "Preston Bypass, Timeline Item". Engineering Timelines. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  24. ↑ "It's official: Preston is one of most congested cities in Britain". Lancashire Evening Post. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.