Earcroft Interchange

Earcroft Interchange is junction 4 of the M65. It opened in 1997 and forms the main gateway for traffic entering both Blackburn and Darwen and is a large roundabout interchange with a dual carriageway link to the A666.

The link to the north, originally Eccleshill Road (now Paul Rink Way), was opened in August 1998. This link has opened up Lower Darwen to extra industry and housing development has caused the area to become one of the more desirable residences of the borough, being situated exactly a mile from both this interchange and Guide Interchange.

Blackburn with Darwen services opened in December 2002. The exit road from the service area is chronically overloaded at peak times due to the amount of commerce and industry on the site, and the part time signals that were installed in 2002 but never switched on (remaining bagged over) were finally commissioned in March 2011 at the insistence of the Driving Standards Agency which had relocated their Driving Test Centre to the site a few years previously and were fed up of tests spending most of the time exiting the business park.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M65	Preston (M6, M61)
M65	Blackburn N & E, Burnley, Accrington
A666	Blackburn, Bolton, Darwen
	Lower Darwen, Darwen Aldridge Community Academy	7.5Ton weight limit in 1/4 mile
	Blackburn with Darwen services