M60 - M62 - M66
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Ordnance Survey map - Alternative aerial view
Where is it?
M60 junction 18, the notional north-east corner of a circular road, where the M62 merges in for a multiplex around the northern section, and the M66 terminates.
What's wrong with it?
This is essentially the dictionary definition of the word "sham". Quite aside from the fact that it's another of those evil concoctions, the three-level stacked roundabout, which is laughably under-capacity for such an interchange despite having huge renovations when the M60 was created, its main fault is that the through route doesn't go through it. Make the simple, forgivable assumption that to stay on the M60 you continue straight on, and you will end up on the M62 or M66, depending on which direction you came from. There's no way to ignore it: to stay on the M60 you either have a tight left-turn sliproad or (worse) the problem of negotiating a six-lane roundabout with traffic lights at every entry point.
Why is it wrong?
There's a simple reason for this one. When the junction was built, it was the crossing point of two motorways, the M62 and M66. Considering the M66 finished about two miles south of here, and didn't go that much further to the north, this was just fine and dandy. When the M60 was created as a Manchester ring road, it was mostly done out of bits and pieces of existing motorway around Manchester - it used the south end of the M66 and the M62 around the north of the city, and so it had to pass through this junction. It's been modified to have six lanes around the roundabout and signs and traffic lights everywhere, but the fact remains that it's still a roundabout!
What would be better?
How about making the M60 free-flowing? It doesn't have to be the priority route through the junction (the M62 takes most of the traffic) - just something to prevent a continuously numbered motorway from passing through three sets of traffic lights. How about tunnelling under as at M1/M62? Still bad, but better than this.
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Alex adds a cautionary tale of poor signposting:
When travelling clockwise on the M60, upon failing to discover the criss-cross of the M60/M62/M66, the junction numbers if you continue the wrong way are the same! We discovered this when seeing signs for Wakefield and Bradford city centres!
Andy adds:
Just a further note to that published by Alex. My brother also fell for that one. Wanted to go from Pilsworth (Bury) to Liverpool, ended up going onto the roundabout then back on to the M60, finally realising his error a few miles down the M60 eastern side of Manchester. I know the area well, so never noticed the similarity in junction numbering (not needing to know the junction numbers). Nice one! Adds a nice little zest to the 'getting lost' experience...
Andrew Teale writes:
Another nail in the coffin for Simister Island and its environs - because the M66 underneath the junction is only two lanes wide, traffic exiting junction 19 northbound (which is a lane gain) has to cross two lanes of traffic in a mile to reach the M66, while attempting to accelerate up a very steep hill. A similar situation exists in the southbound direction, where the lanes merging into the M66 are very busy with traffic that has backed up behind the lights on the roundabout.
A minor correction - the first layout of junction 18 was as the start of the "Middleton Spur" from the M62, the M66 underneath the junction coming slightly later. Since all the left-turn slip roads have been added at different times the junction is now in its sixth edition. And it still doesn't work properly.
Edward Reece adds:
I actually use this junction a lot and its not as bad as one might expect - but its still shocking. The main trouble is that all the traffic from Manchester Airport and Stockport heading for the M62 has to turn right but their is a terrible lack of warning for the lights. This is a serious incident waiting to happen - a lorry fell of the island and landed on the M66 recently and remarkably only the lorry driver was killed - whilst this is tragic it is amazing more were not killed. I doubt that level of luck will last.
Garry Byrne knows it well:
This is truly a shocking roundabout - I have used it constantly since before the M60 was opened, and the number of times I've had a near-miss can be counted as a near-daily experience.
Since the M60 has been open, the roundabout has been re-organised so that traffic moves over 2 lanes for every exit - this is all fine and dandy for those used to the junction (or used to paying attention to roadmarkings) but to Joe Public who just assumes you move over once...I actually approach this roundabout watching every other car now, knowing at least twice a week someone will attempt to insert themselves into the same bit of road as me. Bad design.
Nicholas Lawley shakes his fist thus:
I use this junction daily. It's not just the junction design that's bad, it's the timing of the traffic lights too. It's been known (and I've sat in it) on a bad day that the queue of traffic wanting to leave the northern arm of the M60 and head onto the eastern M60 heads all the way down to before junction 17, and can cause gridlock back to the M61!
Garry Byrne again:
Nicholas, your frustration is shared - I've experienced this junction both from working in Bury (one exit back) and Wigan (from the M61, three exits back), and you're completely right - the amount of time I've hit traffic in the rush hour at the bottom end of the M61 (some two miles or so back), caused purely by people queuing on Simister Island, are uncountable.
I said it before and I'll say it again, bad design!
Lee Daavies finds light relief:
This is a tricky junction but... did you know if you approach in the correct lane, if you then follow the same colour of tarmac you will get to your correct exit! There's pink, green, black and yellow tarmac to follow!
