Whitebirk Interchange is junction 6 of the M65. It has a long and exciting history, which can be traced back to 1969. This was when the first proposals for the now M65 were being drafted up and a major junction to connect the existing trunk road to the new motorway was needed. Initial plans for this junction called for a complex multi-level affair, but as the years went by it was progressively reduced to a two-level roundabout interchange.
It did not appear until 1984 when the Hyndburn-Burnley section of the M65 was opened to traffic. At the time the M65 extension to the M6 was still under preparation and the route had not been finalised so the existing motorway was designed with flared carriageways in order to continue the motorway westwards into the town centre.
In 1987, it was announced that the M65 would go to the south of Blackburn, meaning that the existing junction was obsolete. When M65 J1A-6 opened in December 1997, it left the existing alignment east of Whitebirk resulting in the obliteration of the westbound carriageway. The connection to the new motorway from the roundabout was plugged into the southern section of the junction, meaning that the motorway interchange covers a large amount of land.
During 2007-8, the roundabout itself was enlarged to four lanes and given full-time signalisation owing to peak hour congestion on all approaches to the interchange.
Routes
| Route
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To
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Notes
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M65
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(M61, M6), Preston, Blackburn S, Darwen
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M65
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Bury (M66), Burnley, Accrington
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A678
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Blackburn (N)
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A678
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Rishton
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A6119
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Ring Road, Clitheroe (A59), Blackburn, Whitebirk Ind. Estate, Greenbank Business Park, Daisyfield Ind. Estate
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