B6434

This article is about the current B6434 in Burnley.
For the former B6434 in Kendal, see B6434 (Kendal).

Route

Heading south

The B6434 is a short link road in Burnley, Lancashire, between the M65 motorway and the A679 in the town centre.

The road starts at J11 of the M65, at a large roundabout which has north-facing slip roads onto the motorway and also provides access to a spa and leisure centre. Our road heads southeast along Princess Way, with buildings on either side showing a swathe had to be demolished to accommodate our road. The road is dual but only painted to one lane heading out of town; heading into town the left-hand lane is marked to turn left at the central roundabout almost from the outset.

After crossing a roundabout providing access to Asda and Burnley College the road becomes S2, although we remain on Princess Way. After bending to the right and passing under a viaduct on the Colne Branch Line the road ends at a roundabout on the A679, where the majority of traffic will be turning left.

History

The B6434 number appears to have been used earlier in central Burnley for the former line of the A56 as that road was re-routed onto the new Centenary Way relief road. The route was extended as the new road was built, so the first mapping evidence labels just a hundred metres or so of Manchester Road between Grimshaw Street (temporarily used as the A56) and the A671 St James Street. A few years later, and Centenary Way was complete, meaning that the B6434 had been extended south to a new roundabout with the B6240. This is backed up by the DfT Card Index from c2002, which lists the B6434 as 'Manchester Road (part) - Burnley.'.

It is not clear if the two incarnations of the B6434 in Burnley are related, or if the number was moved from one to the other. However, the first map found so far with the M65 shown has the B6434 in its current location, and Manchester Road is labelled as an extension of the B6240.