The M56 motorway serves the

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

and

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. ...

areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at

Gatley Gatley is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles north-east of Manchester Airport. History Toponymy Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, in 12 ...

, south of

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 ...

, to Dunkirk, approximately north of

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 ...

. With a length of , it connects

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

and the Wirral peninsula with much of the rest of

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

, 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. Between junctions 9 and 16, the motorway forms part of the unsigned European route E22 on its route in the UK between

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

and Immingham in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

Route

Although the main line of the motorway starts as a continuation of the A5103 Princess Parkway, the M56 begins on the Sharston Spur (also known as the Sharston Bypass) where it leaves the M60 motorway at its junction 4 (clockwise exit and anticlockwise entry), adjacent to where the slip roads for the A34 to and from

merge and diverge. After passing through junctions 1 and 2, the spur joins the main line at junction 3, increasing the motorway from two lanes to four in each direction. The motorway then heads south to the west of Wythenshawe and Manchester Airport until it reaches junction 6, where it turns west before crossing into

at the River Bollin underbridge. It runs to the south of Hale before reaching junctions 7 and 8 which are part of the same interchange complex. Junction 8 was planned to be used by the proposed A556(M), but is now a single 270-degree loop between the southbound onslip from Bowdon roundabout to the westbound carriageway since the A556 towards 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 ...

was upgraded to dual carriageway in 2017. Traffic destined for the southbound M6 is directed to leave here (because there are no corresponding slip roads at its own junction) and so the junction can suffer from congestion. Traffic levels on the mainline drop significantly as the motorway begins to assume a more traditional feel (three lanes and a hard shoulder per direction) whilst passing between Broomedge and High Legh. After meeting the M6 at junction 9, the motorway passes south of Appleton Thorn and Stretton before reaching the outskirts of

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

at junction 11, near to where it also crosses over the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

and the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. On the other side of the town lies junction 12, whose northern roundabout morphed into a signalised hamburger junction when the Mersey Gateway bridge was built. The concrete multi-span Weaver Viaduct (crossing both the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

and its navigation course) immediately follows junction 12 and offers views of the town of Frodsham and its railway viaduct, along with the INEOS chemical plant and Rocksavage Power Station on the opposite side. Between junctions 12 and 14, it runs parallel to the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

, Manchester Ship Canal, a 400kV overhead power line and the Chester-Warrington railway. After meeting the

M53 motorway The M53 is an motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside and the Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough of Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is also referred to as the Mid Wirral ...

, the road finally returns to two lanes, it proceeds between

to the south and

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...

to its termination at Dunkirk, Cheshire, where it becomes the A494. Traffic destined for

can use either the M53 or the A494 to reach the A55. The motorway is fully lit between the M60 and junction 6 (including all of its spurs) along with the junctions with both the M6 and M53. There are two motorway service areas on the M56:

(operated by Roadchef) and Lymm (operated by Moto, which is also accessible from the M6).

History

The first proposal for a motorway across north Cheshire was mooted in 1947 in a report commissioned by Cheshire County Council, with a line for the route of the motorway being agreed in 1958 between the council and the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. The first section, announced in November 1963 by the transport minister Ernest Marples, was a southwards extension of the Princess Parkway from Wythenshawe in Manchester to the A56 and A556 at Bowdon which entered the ''

Trunk Road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

Programme'' for 1967/1968. Construction began in 1968, and the motorway opened in stages between 1971 and 1981: Proposals existed for an extension into North Wales across the proposed Dee Barrage, but these have never materialised. The carriageway between junctions 4 and 6 was widened from the original dual three-lane configuration to dual four lanes during the 1990s as part of a nationwide motorway widening programme first proposed in the 1989 ''Roads to Prosperity''

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

. Junction 5 became a lane drop/gain in both directions whereas junction 4 was reconfigured from a two-bridge roundabout to a signalised half-diamond with a single bridge. Prior to 2008, the western end of the motorway terminated at a roundabout on the A5117. Work began in 2006 to grade-separate this junction (and others) to allow free-flowing traffic between the motorway and the A550 at Deeside in

, meaning that the mainline motorway no longer connects to the roundabout (it meets the extended A494 head-on east), with the former eastbound carriageway retained as an on-slip.

Construction

Wythenshawe to Gatley

Junctions 1 to 3. The route was fixed in April 1970. The contract for the western section was given in February 1973 to Peter Lind & Company for £1,245,700. The eastern section contract, for around £5million, was given to Leonard Fairclough & Son in December 1971. The western section opened in May 1975, and the eastern section opened in March 1974.

Bowdon to Wythenshawe

Junctions 3a to 7, . The route was fixed in early April 1968, to start at the end of 1968. The contract was given at the end of July 1969, for £6,727,920 to Holland, Hannen & Cubitts. It opened in January 1972. The tensioned central reservation barrier was made by Hill & Smith of Brierley Hill, then in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

Preston Brook to Bowdon

Junctions 7 to 11, . The draft route was announced December 1969 by Fred Mulley. The inquiry was at Stockton Heath in July 1970. The route was fixed in September 1971 by Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester. In October 1972, contracts were given by Graham Page for £6.3million to Marples Ridgway for Preston Brook to Lymm, and to Robert McGregor & Sons for from Lymm to Bowdon for £4.65million. The Croft Interchange (junction 9), with the M6, took up of land. Bowdon to Lymm (7 to 9) opened in December 1974. Preston Brook to Lymm (9 to 11) was opened in July 1975 by Gordon Oakes; the section should have opened in the autumn of 1974, but was held up by bad weather.

Hapsford to Preston Brook

Junctions 11 to 14, . The bridge over the Chester–Warrington line, at Clifton, was built with

PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene, and has numerous applications because it is chemically inert. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off fro ...

joints and rolled into place in October 1968, known as incremental launch; it was built by Leonard Fairclough & Son, and designed by Husband & Company. The contract for the Hapsford to Preston Brook section was given on in November 1968, for £6.07million to Christiani- Shand, for 8miles to take 24months, and to be finished by December 1970, with main work started in December 1968. Hapsford to Sutton Weaver (12 to 14) opened in February 1971 at 11am. The A557 to Preston Brook (11 to 12), , opened in September 1971.

Lea-by-Backford to Hapsford

Junctions 14 to 16. Plans were extended eastwards to Lea-by-Backford. It had originally been planned as a trunk road corridor, that was belatedly upgraded to be built as a motorway, and the western section had only two lanes, much like a trunk road. The first two were contracts awarded in February 1978. The last contract of the M56 from Stoak to Lea-by-Backford was awarded in September 1978. The contract for the southerly M531 to Hoole had not yet been given. The last section was started October 1978 by Alfred McAlpine. Percy Bilton Ltd of Stone, Staffordshire, built the Stoak Interchange itself. The M56 section opened in March 1981. The section from Stoak to Lea-by-Backford was two-lane only. The one-mile section of the two-lane M531 from the A5117 south to the M56 Stoak Interchange, was also opened on 18 March 1981, being built by Leonard Fairclough & Son. The M531 would become the M53, when it fully opened in 1982. This £18million section was three months late, as construction of the Stoak Interchange had caused the hold up. Hapsford to east of Stoak cost £5.42million; the Stoak Interchange cost £4.84million; Stoak to Lea-by-Backford cost £4.32million. The M531 from Little Stanney to Stoak cost £3.46million. The final section of the M531 was to open in 1982, from south of Stoak to the A56 near Chester, built by Monk. The M531 was originally planned to be extended to cross the Chester bypass, and terminate on the A41 at Upton-by-Chester, west of Hoole. The M531 extension was planned to open mid-July 1982; the remaining M531 section opened in July 1982, costing £14million. This contains the only section of the motorway paved with concrete, between junctions 15 and 16. Where it crosses the floodplain of the River Gowy, the carriageway sits on an embankment made of sandstone from a special-purpose quarry, which was constructed to replace existing peat deposits. The junction with the M53 at Stoak was also included in the construction contracts. The M53 Mid Wirral Motorway was mostly built in 1971; it was originally planned to terminate on the A41 at Great Sutton, with a continuation of the Chester bypass to cross an east-west trunk dual carriageway, east of the present western terminus of the M56.

Junctions

{, class="plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope=col, Ceremonial
county !scope=col, Location !scope=col, mi !scope=col, km !scope=col, Junction !scope=col, Destinations !scope=col, Notes , - , rowspan="7" ,

, rowspan="5" , Wythenshawe , 0 , 0 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 1 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

– Manchester city centre,

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , Exits to M60 Eastbound and A34 Northbound only
Entrance from M60 Westbound and A34 southbound only , - , 1.2 , 1.9 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 2 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , – Wythenshawe, Cheadle,

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

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 ...

, Baguley , bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Eastbound exit or Westbound entrance , - , 1.9 , 3.1 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 3 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Northbound entrance or Southbound exit
Small spur going to junction 3a , - , colspan="2" , — , 3a , –

, Wythenshawe, Cheadle
– Manchester city centre,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, , - , 2.8 , 4.5 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , Sharston, Newall Green , bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Southbound entrance or Northbound exit , - , rowspan="2" , Hale Barns , 3.4 , 5.4 , 5 , – Manchester Airport , , - , 4.3 , 6.9 , 6 , –

, Hale,

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

, , - , rowspan="8" ,

, Bowdon , 7.9 , 12.8 , 7 , – Lymm,

– Northwich, –

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, , - , rowspan="2" ,

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, 13.2 , 21.2 , 9 , –

, Preston,

–

, Appleton, Knutsford , , - , 16.3 , 26.2 , 10 , – Whitchurch,

– Northwich , , - , rowspan="2" ,

, 19.3 , 31.1 , 11 , – Northwich,

, , - , 22.3 , 35.8 , 12 , – Frodsham,

, , - , rowspan="3" ,

, 27.4 , 44.2 , 14 , – Helsby, Frodsham, Stanlow , , - , 30.6 , 49.3 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 15 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , –

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, bgcolor="ffdddd" , No Eastbound exits or Westbound entrances , - , 34.0 , 54.8 , 16 , – Queensferry –

–

, ;Coordinate list {, border=1 cellpadding=2 style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom: 1em; color: black; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 100%;" class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" , + , - align="center" bgcolor="#0079C1" style="color: white;font-size:120%;" , colspan="5" , M56 motorway junctions , - align="center" bgcolor="000000" style="color: white" , mile , km , Eastbound exits (B Carriageway) , Junction , Westbound exits (A Carriageway) , - align="center" , , , ''Motorway merges onto'' M60 ''continuing towards

'' , M60 J4 , ''Start of motorway
( Sharston Spur)'' , - style="text-align:center;" , , ,

City Centre,

A34 , J1 , ''No access (on-slip only)'' , - style="text-align:center;" , , , ''No access (on-slip only)'' , J2 ,

, Wythenshawe A560,

(M62),

(M61) (M60) , - style="text-align:center;" , , ,

City Centre, (M60(N&W)), (M62(W)), (M61) (A5103) , J3
( TOTSO EB) , ''No access (on-slip only)'' , - style="text-align:center;" , 7.2 , 11.6 , ''No access (on-slip only)'' , J4 , Wythenshawe , - style="text-align:center;" , 7.8 , 12.6 ,

, J5 ,

, Quarry Bank Mill , - style="text-align:center;" , 8.9 , 14.3 , Hale,

A538 , J6 ,

, Hale,

, Manchester Airport Freight Terminal A538 , - style="text-align:center;" , , , style=background:skyblue , ''Entering

'' , rowspan=2 , , '' River Bollin'' , - style="text-align:center;" , , , '' River Bollin'' , style=background:skyblue , ''Entering

'' , - style="text-align:center;" , 12.4 , 19.9 , Northwich A556,

A56 , J7 ,

(M6(S)), Northwich A556, Lymm A56 , - style="text-align:center;" , , , ''No access'' , J8 , ''No access (on-slip only)'' , - style="text-align:center;" , 17.6 , 28.3 , Preston,

M6,

(N) (M62), Lymm (A50)
'' Lymm Truck Stop'' , J9
''Services'' , Preston M6,

(M62),

, Lymm (A50)
'' Lymm Truck Stop'' , - style="text-align:center;" , 20.8 , 33.4 ,

, Northwich A49 , J10 , Northwich,

A49 , - style="text-align:center;" , 23.8 , 38.3 ,

(East),

A56 , J11 , Preston Brook, Daresbury A56 , - style="text-align:center;" , 26.8 , 43.1 ,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

A557 , J12 ,

, Frodsham,

A557 , - style="text-align:center;" , , , colspan=3 , '' Weaver Viaduct'' , - style="text-align:center;" , 31.9 , 51.4 , Stanlow, Helsby A5117
'' Chester services'' , J14
''Services'' , Helsby, Stanlow, Chester Zoo A5117
'' Chester services'' , - style="text-align:center;" , 34.5 , 55.6 , ''No access (on-slip only)'' , rowspan=2, J15 ,

M53 , - style="text-align:center;" , , , ''No access (on-slip only)'' ,

M53 , - style="text-align:center;" , , , ''Start of motorway'' UK motorway symbol

, rowspan=2, J16 , ''No access'' , - style="text-align:center;" , , ,

A5117, Whitchurch (A41)
''Non-motorway traffic'' , ''End of motorway Mauritius Road Signs - Information Sign - End of Motorway

Road continues as'' A494 ''towards

'' , - ! colspan=5 , Princess Parkway Spur , - style="text-align:center;" , , , ''End of motorway Mauritius Road Signs - Information Sign - End of Motorway

Road continues as'' A5103 ''towards

'' , rowspan=2, J3A , Sharston,

, Baguley A560 , - style="text-align:center;" , , ,

, Wythenshawe, Wythenshawe UK traffic sign 827

, Cheadle A560 , ''Start of motorway
( Princess Parkway Spur)'' UK motorway symbol

, - ! colspan=5 , Airport Spur , - style="text-align:center;" , , , ''End of motorway'' Mauritius Road Signs - Information Sign - End of Motorway

, Wythenshawe A555 (B5166), Business Park, Terminal 3
Terminal 1, , UK traffic sign 543

, ''Start of motorway
(

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

Spur)''

, - style="text-align:center;" , , , Terminal 2 , , ''No access (on-slip only)''
Data from driver location signs is used to provide distance information.

Junction 7 slip closures

At junction 7 in July 2009, the

slip road In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usi ...

letting traffic come in southbound along the M56 and turn onto the A556 southbound was closed while the bridge where it crosses the M56 (the Bowdon View Bridge), which for many years had had a weight restriction, was worked on; traffic intending to use it had to carry on to junction 10 and there turn round, or go through the centre of

; traffic for the nearby Tatton Park Flower Show, and the resulting closure to through traffic of the minor road along the southwest edge of Tatton Park from Ashley, Cheshire to Mere, Cheshire (which would otherwise have acted as a bypass for people living in the area), added to the resulting congestion. In October and November 2010, the bridge was demolished and replaced.

Thorley Lane bridge replacement

On Saturday 28 February and Sunday 1 March 2015, the new concrete girders of the Thorley Lane bridge a little north of Manchester Airport were put in. (The old bridge was demolished because it was found to be cracking.) The M56 was closed over that weekend for this. This caused much traffic congestion from M56 traffic diverted through Altrincham and Wythenshawe and along Styal Road and Kingsway, starting on Thursday 26 March because of work putting cones on the carriageway.

Traffic counts

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - ! Section ! Capacity ! colspan=2 , AADT (2019) ! Count point data , - , J1-J2 , rowspan=2 , D2 , 96,643 ,
604673773
, - , J2-J3 , 72,019 ,
36045
, - , J3-J3A
(Princess Parkway Spur) , D3 , 102,674 ,
99833
, - , J3-J4 , rowspan=2 , D4 , 174,693 ,
26047
, - , J4-J5 , 150,675 ,
6047
, - , Airport Spur , D2 , 67,863 ,
89289
, - , J5-J6 , D4 , 138,257 ,
16044
, - , J6-J7 , rowspan=8 , D3 , 118,528 ,
46044
, - , J7-J8 , 82,528 ,
8025
, - , J8-J9 , 87,582 ,
6048
, - , J9-J10 , 117,996 ,
5604773275
, - , J10-J11 , 107,049 ,
1604573448
, - , J11-J12 , 100,488 ,
46045
, - , J12-J14 , 113,408 ,
2604973282
, - , J14-J15 , 120,523 ,
7831
, - , J15-J16 , D2 , 44,042 ,
37919

Upgrades

Junction J6 to J8 Smart Motorway

The government announced in August 2015 that the motorway between junctions 6 and 8 would be upgraded to a smart motorway as part of its Northern Powerhouse strategy; work began in 2020 and was completed in early 2023, originally anticipated for late 2021. The project will with the exception of the slip roads at the airport junction give the motorway four running lanes on each carriageway between junctions 6 and 8, with an already existing standard motorway with 4 lanes from junction 6 to junction 3. As the work on the lanes is finished, the temporary speed limit was increased to 60mph in March 2023, with all lanes open. The 70mph national speed limit was to be reapplied when National Highways systems finished final commissioning work.

Junction 11a

There was also to be a new junction 11a at

between the existing junctions 11 and 12 to relieve heavy congestion on this stretch and serve the new Mersey Gateway bridge. However, this project was cancelled by Highways England in Spring 2020 as it didn't represent value for money.

M56 corridor

"The M56 corridor" is a term used by

estate agent An estate agent is a person or business in the United Kingdom that arranges the selling, renting, or managing of real estate, properties and other buildings. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a Letting agent, letting or manag ...

s and social geographers to describe what is considered to be a relatively affluent area of

, within easy reach of the M56. The area includes the cities of Manchester and Chester, and commuter towns and villages in rural Cheshire. It also includes Warrington and Runcorn, where the chemical and

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

industries are prominent.

References

External links

The Motorway Archive - M56
{{DEFAULTSORT:5-0056m Motorways in England Roads in Cheshire Roads in Greater Manchester