The M61 is a motorway in
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 ...
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
Preston, linking the
M60 Manchester orbital motorway with the
M6 motorway.
It runs from the A580 near
Wardley and heads northwest past
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 ...
,
Horwich and
Chorley
Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
to join the M6 near
Bamber Bridge
Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, 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 Bri ...
, just north of the junction between the M6 and
M65. It runs parallel to the
A6, to its northeast, for the entirety of its length, essentially
bypassing the towns and villages the A6 runs through between Manchester and Preston.
History
The Horwich to Worsley section began on Wednesday 1 January 1969, costing £12.4million, to open by the end of December 1970, built by the
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Carillion in 2008.
The origins of Alfred McAlpine are strongly associated with the busine ...
and
Leonard Fairclough & Son consortium.
Services
The M61 has one service station:
Rivington services
Rivington services is a motorway service area in Anderton, Lancashire, England, situated between junctions 6 and 8 of the M61 (there is no junction 7). It is operated by EG On the Move.
History Construction
Built in 1971, under the original ...
(formerly Anderton Services and Bolton West services), located between junctions 6 and 8 (as junction 7 was never built). This
motorway service area
Motorway service areas (MSA) also known as services or service stations, are rest areas in the UK and Ireland where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop, use the toilet or stay in an on-site overnight hotel ...
was used in the filming of ''The Services'', a pilot episode for the
Farnworth
Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester.
Within the historic county of Lancashire, Farnworth lies on ...
-born comedian
Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born and raised in Farnworth, Kay studied media performance at the University of Salford and later began working part-time as a stand-up comedian. In 199 ...
series ''
That Peter Kay Thing'', a spoof documentary of a day in the life of the services staff.
Originally built as part of the Kenning Motor Group, it later became part of the Rank Group portfolio, before passing on to Pavilion (Granada) and First Motorway Services. This services originally had two restaurants (one each side) and full facilities. However, due to the relatively short length of the M61 and wealth of alternative nearby facilities, it suffered from low traffic and footfall. This resulted in a lack of investment, and the site passed from hand to hand. It was also, at various times, operated on one side only, access from the opposite carriageway being via the over-bridge, or closed down completely.
In 2009, it was acquired by the Blackburn based
Euro Garages
EG Group Limited is a British operator of filling stations, convenience stores and Fast-food restaurant, food service providers across Europe, the United States and Australia. It was founded in Blackburn in 2001 by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Iss ...
Group. Instead of simply refurbishing the existing infrastructure, a completely new facility was built on each of the old car-parks. All the original buildings were then demolished.
At various periods, since the building of the M61, the lack of a junction 7 has been used by local politicians as a campaign feature. This has once again come to the fore in 2022, as a proposal to relieve major congestion between junction 6 and Horwich. The two proposals are; to either build junction 7 where the M61 passes over the Bolton to Chorley road at Anderton, or to incorporate junction 7 into the Rivington Services site. Short term, neither are likely to happen.
Worsley Braided Interchange

At the southeastern end at junction 2, the Worsley Braided Interchange, a stretch of the road on
Linnyshaw Moss, earns a place in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
'' for having the most traffic lanes side by side (17), spread across eight almost-parallel carriageways, in a "basketweave interchange" design. However it isn't clear how many of the lanes belong to the A666(M). The carriageways cross each other at shallow angles and make use of tunnel-like structures to spread the load, avoiding the need for skew bridges.
Spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...
s of the M61 radiate from junction 2 to four surrounding junctions, effectively creating one large interchange, consisting of the following junctions:
* The Kearsley Interchange links the
A666 and
A6053 to M61 junctions 2 and 3.
* M61 junction 3 links the M61 southeastbound to the Kearsley Interchange.
* M61 junction 2 (''Worsley Braided Interchange'') links to all of the other junctions.
* M60 junction 15 (''Swinton Interchange''
) links the
M60 to M61 junction 2 by using a short stretch of the A666(M).
* M60 junction 14 (Wardley Interchange) links the
A580 East (East Lancashire Road) to M61 junction 2, and separately links the A580 West to the M60 East at junction 15.
The name "Worsley Braided Interchange" may also be used to describe the entire complex of five junctions. On its opening on 17 December 1970, the complex was already known locally as "
Spaghetti Junction", 17 months before the opening of
Gravelly Hill Interchange in Birmingham, nowadays most associated with that name in Britain, but the name did not persist.
Lancaster Canal
The construction of the motorway between junctions 8 and 9 caused part of
Lancaster Canal
The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria (Historic counties of England, historically in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River ...
to be closed. Before closure, the canal had a southern section that had always been isolated from the main northern section, but historically linked to it by a horse-drawn tramway, the
Lancaster Canal Tramroad. The new motorway crossed the route of the canal at three points. The
Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
and
British Waterways Board decided that the cost of constructing three bridges was not justified, particularly as the canal was in poor condition, and promoted a bill in Parliament for closure of this section of the canal. The southernmost part of this section remains and is now classified as a spur of the
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
.
Junctions
{, class="plainrowheaders wikitable"
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!scope=col, County
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[Mileage sources:
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*
*
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!scope=col,
!scope=col, Junction
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Mileages are calculated using the A580 spur, the longer of the two spurs at the Manchester end.
;Coordinate list
Notes
References
External links
Lancashire County Council – Historic Highways – M61
{{DEFAULTSORT:6-0061
Motorways in England
Roads in Lancashire
Roads in Greater Manchester