The M65 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 ...

between Preston and

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. It runs from

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 south of Preston, through major junctions with the M6 and

M61 motorway The M61 is a motorway in North West England between Manchester and Preston, Lancashire, Preston, linking the M60 motorway, M60 Manchester orbital motorway with the M6 motorway, M6 motorway. It runs from the A580 near Wardley, Greater Manchester ...

s, east past

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

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 River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, Brierfield,

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and ends at Colne.

History

The M65 was opened in the following sections: *Junctions 10 to 12 (Burnley to Brierfield) in 1981 *Junctions 7 to 10 (Hyndburn to

) in 1983 *Junctions 12 to 13 (Brierfield to

) in 1983 *Junctions 6 to 7 (Whitebirk to

Hyndburn Hyndburn is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Accrington, the largest town, and the borough also covers the outlying ...

) in 1984 *Junctions 13 to 14 (Nelson to

) in 1988 *Junctions 1a to 6 M6 to

Whitebirk Whitebirk is a suburb in the east of Blackburn, in Lancashire, England. Most of the suburb is in the borough of Blackburn with Darwen, with the east of the suburb being in the borough of Hyndburn. Whitebirk is part of the Blackburn urban are ...

in 1997 The first section of the motorway was opened in 1981, connecting Burnley to Brierfield. Over the years, several extensions were made, the largest being the link from Whitebirk to the M6 and M61 motorways in 1997. This extension was the scene of a standoff between construction security workers and protesters forming part of the environmental direct action movement. Protesters occupied abandoned buildings in Darwen, parts of Stanworth Woods near Feniscowles and needed to be physically removed. Junctions 1a to 6 were opened 18 December 1997 by

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretar ...

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

and Member of Parliament (MP) for

. The opening ceremony took place on the westbound carriageway beneath junction 5 at

Guide A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom. Travel and recreation Exp ...

with a heavy police presence as protesters threatened to bring a halt to the proceedings. Much of the 1997 extension was relaid shortly after it opened with a new, quieter tarmac because the amount of road noise had been so great that it prevented birds of prey (mainly

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s) from foraging effectively. Originally, the M65 was planned to go via the town centre of

. The motorway is maintained by

National Highways National Highways (NH), formerly Highways England and before that the Highways Agency, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in Eng ...

up to Junction 10 with Lancashire County Council taking over responsibility from this junction until the end of the motorway at Junction 14.

Features

Unusual spur road (Walton Summit Motorway)

When the M65 was extended, a

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 ...

was built at Walton Summit, southeast of Preston, from the

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

linking junction 9 of the M61 with junction 2 of the M65 to the Walton Summit industrial estate. It is a single-carriageway road, with two lanes towards the junction (uphill) and one away (downhill). It is around 600 yards long and replaced an A-road spur of the A6 that was built in the 1980s. According to the statutory instrument that authorised its construction, the road is officially classified as a 'special link road to connect the 65/M61 roundaboutwith the all-purpose road known as Tramway Lane'. According to

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

, it is the 'M61 Link Tramway Lane to Junction 9' and is part of the M61. In 2007, the approach signs from Walton Summit were modified to read 'M61', but the signs still mark the roundabout at the eastern end.

Legislation

Each

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 statutory instruments relating to the route of the M65. * Statutory Instrument 1991 No. 722: The M65 Motorway (

Section,

Southern Bypass) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1991
S.I. 1991/722
* Statutory Instrument 1992 No. 2651: The M65 Motorway (Bamber Bridge to Whitebirk Section,

Southern Bypass) and Connecting Roads Scheme 1991 Variation Scheme 1992
S.I. 1992/2651

Junctions

The entire route is in

. {, class="plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope=col, Location !scope=col, !scope=col, !scope=col, Junction !scope=col, Destinations !scope=col, Notes , - ;Coordinate list

References

External links

Roads.org.uk – M65Pathetic Motorways – Walton SummitUK Motorway Archive – M65Amateur documentary of the commencement ceremony and early works at Brierfield 1976
YouTube
Pendle Movie Makers
{{DEFAULTSORT:6-0065 Motorways in England Roads in Lancashire