Haighton Interchange
Haighton Interchange | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Location | |||
Fulwood Row | |||
County | |||
Lancashire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
National Highways | |||
Junction Type | |||
Folded Half Diamond | |||
Roads Joined | |||
M6, B6242 | |||
Haighton Interchange, junction 31A of the M6, is a limited access junction constructed in the 1990s to serve an employment area of Preston.
History
There was originally no junction here nor was one planned when the M6 was first built. In the late 1960s the area around Preston was designed a new town and a new road network was planned. A junction was planned in exactly the same location as today's junction but it was to serve a completely different purpose. A major road, known as the Eastern Primary, would have ran from Haighton Interchange and re-connect to the motorway network further south near Bamber Bridge. The junction would have been the main entrance to the new town from the north and was to be of a freeflow design to maximise capacity. The layout shown here was set by the mid-1970s. Junctions further south would have served traffic coming from the south so south facing slips were deemed unnecessary. In addition, the north facing slips at J31 would close although it's unclear why this would be necessary given there would be no weaving issues.
New towns were rarely completed as intended and Central Lancashire New Town is no exception. The Eastern Primary was never built apart from a small section near Bamber Bridge so there was no need for the junction.
The M6 was widened in the 1990s and at the same time plans for a junction at Haighton re-emerged, this time for a different reason. A new employment area was being developed and a junction would be required to serve it. Unlike the 1970s proposals, this was built with south facing slips. The addition of north facing slips has been considered but is deemed unlikely.
The M6 Preston Bypass in the vicinity of this junction is the only part of the Preston Bypass that was mostly or even completely removed from the boundaries occupied by the original Preston Bypass carriageways as a result of offline parallel widening during the 1993-1995 widening from the original D2M/D3M space into the even wider D4M layout. This also meant that the stretch of the mainline Preston Bypass in the vicinity of M6 J31a was the only part of it to be given a renewed special road order in addition to the special road orders for the then new sliproads at M6 Junctions 30, 31 and 31a. The underbridge for B6242 Bluebell Way is the only underbridge on the current version of the M6 Preston Bypass not to have any part of its structure dating back to the 1956-1958 period.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
The LAKES, Lancaster, Blackpool (M55) | access to/from M6 only | |
The SOUTH, (M61, M58) | ||
(M6),(M55), Preston (East) | ||
Longridge Ind Estates (B6243) | on some signs as B6241 | |
Park and Ride | ||
Ladywell, Payphone | ||
Preston | ||
Grimsargh |
Links
legislation.gov.uk