M62 motorway

Encyclopedia : M : M6 : M62 : M62 motorway

M62 motorway
Length	105 miles 168 km
Direction	West - East
Start	Liverpool
Primary destinations	Huyton St Helens Widnes Warrington Manchester Bury Rochdale Huddersfield Halifax Bradford Dewsbury Leeds Wakefield Pontefract Selby Goole
End	North Cave
Construction dates	1970 - 1976
Motorways joined	6 - M57 motorway 10 - M6 motorway 12 - M60 motorway 12 - M602 motorway 18 - M60 motorway 18 - M66 motorway 20 - A627(M) motorway 26 - M606 motorway 27 - M621 motorway 29 - M1 motorway 32a - A1(M) motorway 35 - M18 motorway

The M62 motorway connects the cities of Liverpool and Hull, in England. Along the way, it passes the cities of Salford, Manchester, Warrington, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield, and crosses the Pennine hills.

The motorway is the most important east-west road in northern England. Great efforts are made to keep the road clear of snow in winter months, when other cross-Pennine routes are often shut. The Pennine stretch of motorway is the highest in the UK; there is a marker at the highest point.

Life in the fast lane

At the highest point of the motorway, the road divides into two to negotiate the hilly terrain, and a farm, built in 1737, is situated in between the two halves.

The inhabitants, Ken and Beth Wild, have lived and worked there since 1971.[BBC report on the Wilds and their farm] The road forks around the farm for engineering reasons; a myth persists that it is because they refused to be moved out of the way during its construction.

History

The building of the M62 between Rochdale and Huddersfield, crossing the Pennines, is considered to have been one of the most daring road construction projects to have taken place in England due to the nature of the terrain.

On the 4 February 1974, 12 people were killed and many more injured in the M62 coach bombing, when the IRA exploded a 25lb bomb on board an army coach travelling on the road between Bradford and Leeds during the night.

The section of the M62 around Manchester, between junctions 12 and 18, has been renumbered as the M60 Manchester Outer Ring Road road. Another section of the orbital road, the Stretford-Eccles Bypass, formerly a section of the M63, was originally built as a section of the M62. At the M62/M60 interchange, a road leads into Salford, called the M602.

In 2003, work commenced on the A1, upgrading it to motorway status between Doncaster, and Newcastle. The new A1(M) junction opened to traffic on 13 January 2006, intersecting the M62 halfway between J32 (Pontefract) and J33 (Ferrybridge).

In 2007, the UK's first carsharing lane on a motorway is to be built from the M606 allowing passengers with more than one person in the car a fast track onto the M62 Eastbound at Junction 26, near Bradford.[BBC news story about the car-sharing lane]

List of Junctions

M62 Motorway
Westbound exits	Junction	Eastbound exits
A5080: Huyton, Knotty Ash	J5	A5080: Huyton
A5300: Liverpool A5080:Huyton M57: Southport	J6	M57: Prescot A5300: Runcorn
A57: Prescot A570: St Helens A557: Widnes	J7	A57: Prescot A570: St Helens A557: Widnes
Warrington (West), Burtonwood	J8 Burtonwood Services	Warrington (West), Burtonwood
A49: Warrington (Central), Newton	J9	A49: Warrington (Central), Newton
M6: Birmingham, Preston, Chester	J10	M6: Preston, Birmingham, Manchester Airport
A574: Warrington (East), Birchwood	J11	A574: Warrington (East), Birchwood
M60 becomes M62	J12	M60: Ring Road, Bolton, Bury, Leeds M602: Salford, Manchester
Motorway is M60 from Junctions 12 to 18
M60: Ring Road M66: Bury, Blackburn	J18	M60 becomes M62
Birch Services
A6046: Heywood, Middleton	J19	A6046: Middleton, Heywood
A627(M): Rochdale, Oldham	J20	A627(M): Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton
A640: Milnrow, Shaw	J21	A640: Milnrow, Shaw
A672: Saddleworth	J22	A672: Ripponden, Sowerby Bridge
No Access	J23	A640: Huddersfield
A629: Huddersfield, Halifax	J24	A629: Huddersfield, Halifax
A644: Brighouse, Halifax	J25	A644: Brighouse, Dewsbury
Hartshead Services
M606: Bradford A58: Halifax	J26	M606: Bradford A638: Cleckheaton
M621: Leeds A62: Bradford	J27	M621: Leeds A62: Batley A650: Morley
A653: Leeds, Dewsbury, Leeds/Bradford Airport	J28	A653: Leeds, Dewsbury
M1: London, Leeds, Wakefield	J29	M1: London, Wakefield, The NORTH
A642: Rothwell, Wakefield	J30	A642: Rothwell, Wakefield
A655: Normanton, Castleford	J31	A655: Normanton, Castleford
A639: Pontefract, Castleford	J32	A639: Pontefract, Castleford
A1(M): The NORTH, Wetherby	J32a	A1(M): The NORTH, Wetherby The SOUTH, Doncaster
A162: The SOUTH, Doncaster (A1) Pontefract, Ferrybridge	J33	A162: Knottingley, Ferrybridge
A19: Selby, Doncaster	J34	A19: Selby, Doncaster
M18: The SOUTH, Doncaster	J35	M18: The SOUTH, Doncaster
A614: Goole	J36	A614: Goole
A614: Howden	J37	A614: Howden, Bridlington
Start of Motorway	J38	B1230: North Cave, Gilberdyke

External links

• [CBRD Motorway Database - M62]

References