A556
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The A556 is a road in England which extends from the village of Delamere in
Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to l ...
to the Bowdon Interchange in
Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilms ...
, bordering
Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...
. The road contains a mixture of
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
and dual carriageway sections and forms a large part of the route between
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
and
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
. It also acts as a major access route to Chester/North Wales to the west and to Manchester to the east for the conurbation of towns and villages around the Dane Valley centering on Winsford and Northwich. The central part, which forms the Northwich Bypass between Davenham and Lostock Gralam, suffers because of the amount of commuter traffic from this area. The part of the route between the
M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...
Junction 19 and the
M56 motorway 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 north of Chester. With a length of , it connects North Wales ...
Junction 7 is a major route into Manchester and has been recently upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway. The road is frequently congested, carrying approximately 80,000 vehicles per day in 2020 between the M6 and M56 and 45,000 vehicles per day From the A533 Junction for Winsford and Northwich to the M6. The road has a high accident record; between 1998 and 2005, there were around 200 accidents, resulting in 5 fatalities and 39 people being seriously injured. This road occupies part of the intended route for the original M60 motorway which would have provided a motorway bypass for Sale, Altrincham and Stretford. The plans were revived as the A556(M) but the road was finally built as the current all-purpose A556. The former A6144(M) which started at the M63 (now M60) Junction 8 occupies another section of the planned M60.


Route description

The route begins in the south of Manchester at junction 7 of the M56. It then runs in a southwesterly direction towards Chester, joining the A54 near Delamere. At its northern limit, the A556 comes as a spur off the M56 at Junction 7 where it also connects with the A56 at the large interchange roundabout. The A56 continues towards central Manchester via
Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...
. The A556 runs southwest as a new (2017) dual carriageway with a limited-access junction at Millington and another where it crosses the A50. The dual carriageway goes on to connect to the roundabout at Junction 19 of the M6. The A556 continues as a four-laned single carriageway (i.e. with no physical separation between the traffic flows) in a southwesterly direction to another set of traffic lights. A left (easterly) turn here joins the A5033 towards
Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...
. The road continues curving more towards a westerly direction and undulates on its way towards
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
with only minor junctions until traffic lights for the junction with Plumley Moor Road (leading towards
Plumley Plumley is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It had a population of 643 at the 2011 census. There are two public houses, The Golden Pheasant and The Smoker. Pl ...
) by The Smoker pub. At the junction with the A559 just outside the village of
Lostock Gralam Lostock Gralam ( ) is a village and civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire, England; it is sited east of Northwich. The civil parish also includes the small hamlet of Lostock Green. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,298. ...
, the road becomes dual carriageway again (it gains a central reservation) and turns south to bypass the town of
Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...
. As the road skirts the south of Northwich, there is a roundabout with the A530 (south towards
Middlewich Middlewich is a town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is located east of Chester, east of Winsford, south-east of Northwich and north-west of Sandbach. The population of the parish at the United Kingdom 2021 census, ...
); traffic lights for the Gadbrook Park industrial estate and another roundabout (the '
Davenham Davenham (; ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is part of the Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Cheshire West and Chester. It had a population of 2,745 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 201 ...
' roundabout) for the A533. This is where the bulk of the traffic joins/leaves the road for
Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining indus ...
, with the westbound carriageway having an off slip road to the A533 South to relieve traffic on the roundabout and Kingsmead Crossroads the same, with the eastbound carriageway having an on slip from the A533 and the crossroads. This section of road was constructed before World War II but not opened to traffic: in 1944 it was used to store tanks and artillery in preparation for the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
(D-day). The road then crosses the
River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1721 and the work, which included ...
by an iron bridge,
Hartford Bridge Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, known locally as the 'Blue Bridge', before heading in a westerly direction to the village of
Sandiway Sandiway is a village in the civil parish of Cuddington, Vale Royal, Cuddington, Cheshire, England. It lies to the southeast of and is contiguous with the village of Cuddington. Sandiway was the birthplace of John Douglas (English architect), ...
near Cuddington. The road through the village is limited to and has traffic light junctions with Dalefords Lane/School Lane and the A49. Through Sandiway the road also becomes a two-lane carriageway and continues as such to its end. As the road enters Sandiway, the
Round Tower Lodge The Round Tower Lodge, also known simply as the Round Tower, is situated in the central reservation of the A556 road in Sandiway, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed b ...
can be seen stranded in the central reservation of the road. After the A49 junction the road becomes delimited and turns to a southwesterly route past
Oakmere Oakmere is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Delamere and Oakmere, in the Cheshire West and Chester district, in the county of Cheshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 589. Oakmer ...
and into a limit for the junction with the B5152 that leads north to Delamere and
Delamere Forest Delamere Forest is a large Woodland, wood in the village of Delamere, Cheshire, Delamere in Cheshire, England. The woodland, which is managed by Forestry England, covers an area of making it the largest area of woodland in the county. It contai ...
. The road rises up to finish at a junction with the A54 that continues towards
Kelsall Kelsall is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located around east of Chester, west of Northwich, and north west of Tarporley. The village i ...
and
Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
. This junction does not obviously mark the end of the A556 since traffic on the A556 has right of way and traffic on the A54 has to give way to join.


Recent improvements

Work began in November 2014 to build a four-lane dual carriageway bypass between junction 19 of the M6 at
Mere Mere may refer to: Places * Mere, Belgium, a village in East Flanders * Mere, Cheshire, England * Mere, Wiltshire, England People * Mere Broughton (1938–2016), New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist * Mere Smith, American television ...
and junction 7 of the M56 at Bowdon. The new road bypasses Mere,
Bucklow Hill Bucklow Hill is a village in Cheshire, England whose name originates from a slight rise in the road. It is part of the civil parish of Mere and is located at the junction of the A5034 road and the B5569 road. History The ''Bucklow Hundred'' of ...
, Millington and
Rostherne Rostherne is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Millington and Rostherne, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England (). In 2001 the parish had a population of 160. To t ...
and provides a strategic link for traffic heading between Greater Manchester and the south. It cost £192 million and opened on 6 March 2017. The old bypassed route, which has been designated as B5569, has been blocked off at its south end between Swains Farm and the A556/M6 junction.Google Earth view
/ref> Old Hall Lane (which ran from Tableybrook Farm, over its own bridge over the M6, and joined the A556 opposite Swains Farm) has been re-routed and now joins the bypassed old A556 further north. The A556 had previously been considered for upgrade to motorway status, but this was rejected in 2003 by the Secretary of State for Transport. In 2017 a junction improvement was completed around the Davenham area to enable vehicles to turn safely onto Hartford Road coming from Hartford/Chester and also to allow for housing developments to have Trunk Route Access. In 2020/2021 a further junction improvement costing around £3m was completed for the Gadbrook Park Junction in Rudheath. This will involve creating two extra slip roads, extra lanes on all approaches and extending existing turning lanes to help cut congestion by 14% in the area.


References


External links


SABRE Roaders Digest – A556

Pathetic Motorways – A556(M)
{{DEFAULTSORT:5-0556 Roads in England Roads in Cheshire Roads in Greater Manchester