A665

Before the motorways, the A665 relieved the main A56 south into Manchester, and provided an alternative for traffic heading to the city centre (there is still a sign on the A56 south which shows the A665 as "Manchester City Centre East"). Since the M60/M62, the road is probably less important, but the lower section, Cheetham Hill Road, still forms part of the main, signed route into Manchester when coming from the east on the M62.

Route

Starting on the A6 to the east of Manchester city centre, the road heads north, crossing the A57 before going under a bridge carrying the railway lines into Piccadilly station. The next turn on the right is signposted A635 towards Ashton-under-Lyne; this is a spur (of either of the two roads) and the mainline of the A635 is met at traffic lights soon afterwards, after which the road becomes dual-carriageway. At the next set of lights the Mancunian Way (here an all-purpose road) is met and the A665 becomes the eastern side of the Manchester & Salford Inner Relief Route. It heads northwestwards, crossing the Ashton and then Rochdale Canals before meeting the A62 at traffic lights. At this point the road splits, with the northbound route continuing ahead but the southbound route running along a parallel road further east (and having to multiplex along the A62 to continue its journey.

Cheetham Hill Road

After crossing the A664 at two adjacent sets of traffic lights the two carriageways recombine to pass over a bridge immediately east of Victoria station. The ring road (mapped as A6042, although the number does not appear on signs) bears left at the next set of lights whilst the A665 bears right to climb Cheetham Hill. The road continues through the suburbs to a set of lights in Crumpsall where it crosses the A576, to which we lose our primary status.

After crossing the A6044, again at lights, the road skirts Heaton Park to its right then bears left to become wholly urban once more. The road then passes over the M60 and under the Metrolink line to Bury at exactly the same spot before a short one-way section leads to the A56. Northbound traffic needs to multiplex north for a short distance between adjacent sets of lights, whilst southbound traffic just runs straight across.

Now in the leafy suburbs, the road passes a golf course and passes to the west of the centre of Whitefield. It goes over the Metrolink again to reach a mini-roundabout. The A665 originally ended here on the A668. However, it was extended in the 1960s, taking over half the A668 (and removing it from the map in the process) to do so. As such the road turns left to cross the Metrolink once more before a brief dualled section marks the start of the Radcliffe bypass. After narrowing again, this crosses the River Irwell then bends round to the right to rejoin the old road. The road then crosses the derelict Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal then heads westwards, turning northwards at a mini-roundabout where the A6053 bears off to the left. Now on the edge of the urban area, the road zigzags, eventually reaching open fields and ending at a T-junction on the A58.

Original Author(s): Bob Sykes

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