The M66, also known as the Bury Easterly Bypass, is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England. It is long and provides part of the route between the M62 and M60 motorways and the M65, with the rest being provided by the A56. Historically the motorway used to continue southward around the east side of Manchester, but in 1998 this section was renumbered and became part of the M60 Manchester orbital motorway.

Route

The M66 starts at the Simister Island, a junction with the M60 and M62, and heads north as a continuation of the M60 as a 3 lane dual carriageway. It passes the eastern edge of Whitefield, through junction 3, goes underneath the

East Lancashire Railway East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, , Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with ...

and enters the suburbs of

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. It reduces to 2 lanes at junction 2 and then climbs onto an elevated section, passing through a post war housing estate.CBRD Motorway Database – M66
/ref> At the end of the elevated road, a third

climbing lane Climbing lanes or crawler lanes are a roadway lane design. They allow slower travel for large vehicles, such as large trucks or semi-trailer trucks, ascending a steep grade. Since climbing uphill is difficult for these vehicles, they can travel in ...

is added to the summit of the hill. The road then runs to the east of

Ramsbottom Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, northwest of Bu ...

and the East Lancashire Railway and ends near

Edenfield Edenfield is a village within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. Lying on the River Irwell, it is around north of Ramsbottom, south of Rawtenstall, and west of Norden, and has a total population of 2,080, reducing to 2,053 at th ...

, where the road continues as the A56 dual carriageway.

History

M66 motorway in 1998 in North West England map

In 1949 a report, the

Road Plan for Lancashire A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, proposed the construction of ''Route 9'' which would link north east Manchester with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

and

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

via ''Route 8''. Originally planned to be an all purpose road. the route was redesignated as a motorway prior to construction. The first section (the so-called ''Middleton Link'') was opened in 1971. On the Department for Transport's 2002 Roads List this link is listed as the M68. Construction then began on the southern section of the Bury bypass (Junctions 4 to 3) in February 1973 with this opening in August 1975. Immediately after construction began on the northern section (junctions 3 to terminus) with this opening in 1978.The Motorway Archive – M66 Dates
The motorway was planned to run down to Stockport where it would meet the M63 and the proposed

A6(M) motorway A6, A 6 or A-6 can refer to: Arts and entertainment *A6, a mutated flu virus in the short story "Night Surf" by Stephen King *A-6, a renamed version of the US Security Group in the 1997 comic book movie ''Spawn (1997 film), Spawn'' Electronics an ...

.The Motorway Archive – M66 (now M60) Portwood to Denton
The first part of this built was the section from the M67 to the M63 (now junctions 24 to 27 of the M60) with construction beginning in 1986 and it opening to traffic in 1989.The Motorway Archive – M66 (now M60) Portwood to Denton Dates
The final section of the motorway was to be between the M67 and the Middleton Link. Construction began on this in 1995. In 1998 it was decided to rename various sections of motorway (parts of the M62 and M66 and the whole of the M63) around Manchester to the M60 to form the ''Manchester Outer Ring Road''. All sections of the M66 south of the M62 were therefore redesignated as the M60. This final section subsequently opened in 2000. North of the M66, the road was built as the A56, an all purpose A road which connects with the M65 at junction 8.

Legislation

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 the Statutory Instruments relating to the route of the M66. * Statutory Instrument 1973 No. 1142: M66 Motorway (Bury Easterly Bypass Northern Section) And Connecting Roads Scheme 1973 S.I. 1973/1142 * Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 2158: M66 Motorway (Bury Easterly Bypass Northern Section) (Junction 2 Southbound Off-Slip) (Detrunking) Order 199
S.I. 1996/2158
* Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 2159: M66 Motorway (Bury Easterly Bypass Northern Section) And Connecting Roads Scheme 1973 (Variation) Scheme 199
S.I. 1996/2159

Junctions

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Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,96 ...

, bgcolor="ddffdd" , Road continues from A56 , - , rowspan="4",

, — , 2.2 , 3.6 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 1 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , -

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Southbound exit or Northbound entrance , - , rowspan="2",

, 5.5 , 8.8 , 2 , -

, Heywood,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, , - , 6.4 , 10.2 , 3 , Whitefield, Heywood , , - , — , 8.4 , 13.6 , 4 , - Eccles, Stockport,

Ashton under Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manc ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, Hull , , - *Ceremonial Counties ;Coordinate list

References

External links