The M606 is a short stretch of motorway in West Yorkshire, England. Called the Bradford Spur motorway, the M606 leaves the M62 motorway at junction 26, near Cleckheaton, and heads into

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, to join the A6177

Bradford Ring Road The A6177 is a ring road around Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is mostly formed from existing roads and save for its southern section is single-carriageway. Route description Starting at Undercliffe going clockwise from the east of t ...

. It is officially named the "Bradford South Radial Motorway" and was opened in 1973.

Configuration of the terminal junctions

Staygate

The northern end of the M606, closest to the city, was built with a large raised

roundabout A roundabout is a type 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 junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

crossing the

, but the original plans to continue the motorway under the roundabout were not carried out: access was only by slip roads to and from the roundabout. In 1999 a new slip road was built that allowed eastward traffic on the ring road, via a mini-roundabout, to enter the motorway directly and avoid the Staygate roundabout. In 2004 the junction was further remodelled, so that traffic leaving the motorway and wishing to turn eastward on the ring road continues under the roundabout, and round to join the roundabout from the opposite site, so that it has a left rather than a right turn to make (via two sets of traffic lights). Staygate roundabout is very close to

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

, the home of the rugby league club Bradford Bulls.

Chain Bar

The southerly junction with the M62 is known as the Chain Bar Interchange and features free-flowing sliproads from the Manchester direction M62 traffic to Bradford, but not the Leeds direction, which has to use the complex traffic-light controlled roundabout. In late 2007 there was a 2+ lane added leading from the M606 southbound straight on to the M62 eastbound without having to stop at Chain Bar Interchange. The lane was removed in August 2017 following improvements to the roundabout.

List of junctions

{, class="plainrowheaders wikitable" , - !scope=col, County !scope=col, Location !scope=col, mi !scope=col, km !scope=col, Junction !scope=col, Destinations !scope=col, Notes , - , rowspan="3", West Yorkshire , rowspan="3",

, 0 , 0 , 1 , - Manchester, Leeds
- Leeds, Halifax
- Cleckheaton, Wakefield , , - , 1.5 , 2.4 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , 2 , bgcolor="ffdddd" , Oakenshaw, Low Moor , bgcolor="ffdddd" , No northbound entrance , - , 2.4 , 3.9 , 3 , - Halifax
- Bradford , *Ceremonial Counties ;Coordinate list

Britain's first dedicated motorway carpool lane

In 2007, work started on the M606 to create the UK's first motorway carpool lane (also known as high-occupancy vehicle or HOV lane). The lane scheme was on the M606 southbound and allowed vehicles with more than one person in the car a fast track onto the M62 eastbound at Junction 26. In August 2017 the lane's restriction was removed and is now open to all traffic.

Slowest motorway

In September 2016, it was revealed that the M606 is the slowest part of the motorway network averaging .

References

External links

Pathetic Motorways – M606

{{Motorways and Trunk Roads in England 6-0606 Transport in Bradford 6-0606