A674

Route

The A674 is now largely redundant in these post-1997 days. The opening of the last stretch of M65 brought considerable relief to many villages in the area, and this road's villages are no exception.

Chorley – Blackburn

The road starts in Chorley, on a roundabout with the A6. The road, built for motorway access, is dual carriageway, with a 50mph limit at the start, although this is short lived as the M61 is fast approaching. This is junction 8, where traffic for Blackburn is now directed onto the motorway to use the M65 instead. To ensure this is adhered to, the A674 now has a weight limit imposed along a long part of it.

After the M61 junction, the A674 retains its 50 mph limit and reverts to a single carriageway passing a roundabout for the Botany Bay shopping village, which breaks up the traffic flows. The road is now the Wheelton Bypass, a fast (albeit 50 mph restricted) single carriageway, constructed shortly after the M61. The weight restriction begins here. At the beginning of the bypass we meet the B6228 which is the original A674 into Chorley before this link was built and the road diverted to meet it.

This section is a remnant of the original plans for the M65 and Central Lancashire New Town. The original intent was to provide an expressway between Blackburn and Chorley to distribute traffic to the new housing areas. When the new town was disbanded the only section that had been built was this, scaled back to single carriageway to save money.

The bypass soon ends, and dumps all the traffic into Higher Wheelton and Withnell. There are some quite tight turns and narrow sections in this area, although after a mile or so the road straightens out and becomes 50 mph once more. The road soon leaves a wooded area and becomes very wide and open. There are two sharp bends and then the road slams into the M65 at junction 3. The weight limit is now dropped, but the A674 from here to the edge of Blackburn is narrow and very congested.

Continuing on, it meets the A6061 at a former tollbar and begins to descend into Feniscowles. The road soon becomes a 40 mph zone as it twists through some pleasant scenery around the aptly named Pleasington before entering the urban area with a 30 mph limit. The road meets the A6062 at a mini-roundabout, and continues under the disused Blackburn to Chorley railway at the Three Arch Bridge into Blackburn.

Bank Top, Blackburn

The A674 from here is a slog. There are few traffic lights, but lots of double parked cars and side streets causing regular breaks in flow. About a mile and a half into Blackburn, the A674 crosses the B6447 (one of Blackburn's two 1930s arterial roads). The A674 is really a local road for the rest of the way into Blackburn. The road now terminates at the A6078 Wainwright Way, although historically it continued along King Street into the town centre proper to meet the A666, itself no longer present in that area.