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 ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

, England. It runs from just south of

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

through the major junction of the M6 and M61 motorways, 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 passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the south ...

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 Ribble Valley, east of Preston and nort ...

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 ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

, Brierfield, Nelson and ends at

Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Va ...

History

The M65 was opened in the following sections: *Junctions 1a to 6 M6 to Whitebirk in 1997 *Junctions 6 to 7 (Whitebirk to

/ Hyndburn) in 1984 *Junctions 7 to 10 (Hyndburn to

) in 1983 *Junctions 10 to 12 (Burnley to Brierfield) in 1981 *Junctions 12 to 13 (Brierfield to Nelson) in 1983 *Junctions 13 to 14 (Nelson to

) in 1988 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 Secretary ...

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

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

. The motorway is maintained by

National Highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a State-owned enterprise, government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving Roads in England, motorways and major A roads in England. It al ...

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 was built at Walton Summit, southeast of

, from the

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 E ...

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. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 ...

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

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is an urban 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". The population was 13,945 at ...

to Whitebirk 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