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The A601(M) itself is of interest for a number of reasons. Historically, it was once the northern terminus of the M6 Lancaster bypass, which ended at the roundabout with the A6 at the top end of what is now the A601(M). When the M6 was extended it branched off, leaving its old top end as a spur. For a long time this stayed as a simple motorway spur from the M6 to the A6.
However - and here we come to the second point of interest - traffic from a quarry at Over Kellet, just south-east of the point where the spur road met the motorway, was having to drive through Carnforth. In the 1990s, the spur was extended in the other direction by about two hundred yards to connect with the B6254. The extension - despite being under motorway restrictions and signposted as a motorway - is a single carriageway road, with one lane in each direction.
For the third point of interest, the spur, which now extended in both directions from the M6, was granted a number of its own: A601(M). This causes a problem. "A601(M)" suggests this is part of the A601 which is subject to motorway restrictions. For a long time it seemed there was no A601 - which would be strange in itself. But eventually, Richard Bullock spotted it. It's part of the Derby Inner Ring Road - that's more than a hundred miles away! Something went wrong here...
It's hard to excuse the numbering anomaly when the rest of the road is so laughable too. Its southern section is single carriageway, and its junction with the M6 is a roundabout. Its southern 'interchange' is a Give Way sign on the B6254 - it is, in fact, the only motorway to terminate on a B-road. A very silly road indeed.
Factfile
| Start | Over Kellet (B6254) |
|---|---|
| Finish | Carnforth (A6) |
| Passes | None |
| Length | 1 miles |
| Terminates | None |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | M6 |
There are no photos in this section yet.
Construction Timeline
When the various parts of the A601(M) were built, listed in chronological order.
| Open | Jct | Section |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | M6 → A6 Link | |
| 1987 | Over Kellet Link |
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
| Junction | Westbound | Eastbound | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35A | Carnforth A6 Kendal A6 |
A6 |
WEST |
A6 |
N/A |  |
|||||
     |
  |
||||||||||
1 mile, 2 lanes  |
 1 mile, 2 lanes |
||||||||||
| (M6 J35) | The SOUTH Preston M6  The NORTH WEST Carlisle M6 |
M6 |
 |
M6 |
The SOUTH Preston M6 The NORTH WEST Carlisle M6 |
|
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  |
  |
||||||||||
| 0.1 miles, 1 lane |
0.1 miles, 1 lane |
||||||||||
| N/A | B6254 |
 EAST |
B6254 |
Over Kellet B6254 Carnforth B6254 |
|
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 |
 |
With thanks to Chris McKenna for information in this section.
