A6046
| A6046 | ||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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| From: | Middleton (SD871068) | |||
| To: | Heywood (SD855107) | |||
| Distance: | 2.7 miles (4.3 km) | |||
| Meets: | A664, M62, A6184, A6045, A6047, A58 | |||
| Primary Destinations | ||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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The A6046 links the A664 in the north of Middleton with the A58 in the centre of Heywood in south Lancashire.
At the southern end, we start at traffic lights on the A664 Rochdale Road and head northwest. To our left is the Middleton Cricket Club (with a rather cheeky weather vane of Father Time removing the bails, apeing the rather more famous MCC). After a slight bend to the west, the road climbs and then bends north between the two housing estates of Hollin and Langley. It levels out at Top of Hebers, where there used to be a toll bar. North of here, the road was built as a turnpike and is ruler straight for about a mile of rural 40 mph (formerly NSL) until it meets the M62 at the junction 19 roundabout.
The A6046 used to continue straight for about half a mile north of the motorway, but recent residential developments on a former MoT HGV driving test station have necessitated building a small roundabout for these new housing estates. We travel a little further north and reach a mini-roundabout junction with Coronation Avenue (the indicated route for HGV traffic) and a petrol station. Our route continues north from here, along a not-so-wide residential road. At the end of this, we encounter a tight T-junction which used to be a fork. Making a left turn would put us on the A6045 (this is where HGV traffic rejoins us), but the A6046 continues as a TOTSO to our right.
From here we make a beeline for the centre of Heywood, about half a mile to the north, passing over the Heywood spur of the East Lancashire preserved railway. On reaching another Rochdale Road (A6047) the route turns westwards, past the civic centre, and meets the A58 at traffic lights by Heywood Parish Church in the centre of the town.
Original Author(s): Paul Martin
