Motorway Database

Home » Motorway Database » M57 and A5300

The Liverpool Outer Ring Road never seems to go far enough in either direction to be a ring road. Okay, so Liverpool's on the coast, and a full circle was never likely, but this is little more than a straight line that happens to be near the city. Only the central section was ever built, so it doesn't get anywhere near as far around the urban area as it might.

In fact, for most of its existence, the M57 was entirely disconnected from the wider motorway network. At both ends, it shared a junction with another motorway - M58 in the north and M62 in the south - but there was no way to get to either of them without leaving the motorway and using a short section of all-purpose road through the junction. In December 2008 new free-flow sliproads were opened at junction 1, which for the first time connected the M57 to the M62 and made it part of the national network.

In the 1990s the southern end was extended to the Mersey, which was the original intention, though calling it the M57 would be far too easy and instead it was built as an all-purpose road, the A5300 Knowsley Expressway.

The northern junction, Switch Island, was meant to be a standard roundabout interchange, with lots of fun free-flow links zooming across the top just for good measure. The M57 would have passed over to continue north to Formby. This never happened, and instead the 'temporary solution' roundabout was left to cope with two motorways and three busy dual-carriageways converging at once. The junction was modified a couple of times to attempt to cope with the traffic, so it's now made up of fragments of roundabout and lots of traffic lights. Plans being put forward will, bizarrely, remove the roundabout altogether and terminate the M57 at a traffic-light controlled T-junction on the A59.

Factfile

Start	Aintree (M58, A59)
Finish	Ditton (A562)
Passes	None
Length	9 miles
Terminates	None
Spurs	None
Meets	M62

Images

Views of the M57 and A5300 from on and off the road. If you have a photo to contribute, contact me.

Joining the M57 southbound from Switch Island, a few small signs announce that yes, what is apparently a slip road is actually the start of the motorway.
Photo by Steven Jukes

Approaching this railway bridge, we get a wide carriageway on the right - where the rest of the motorway would have been - and even junction markings.
Photo by Steven Jukes

All the way along everything is roundabouts, roundabouts, roundabouts. The only free-flowing junction prior to December 2008 was here, where a set of free-flow sliproads connect to the A580 East Lancs Road.
Photo by Steven Jukes

At the southern terminus, we exit to the left to reach the M62. Straight on, over the flyover, the A5300 continues towards Widnes. But look at the signs - motorway restrictions end at this side, rather than where the all-purpose road merges in at the far end. This oddity has since been fixed.
Photo by Steven Jukes

Construction Timeline

When the various parts of the M57 and A5300 were built, listed in chronological order.

Open		Jct	Section
Apr	1972	J4-7	Liverpool Outer Ring Road phase 1
Mar	1974	J1-4	Liverpool Outer Ring Road phase 2
	1995		A5300 Knowsley Expressway

Exit List

All the junctions and destinations along the route.

Junction	Northbound				Southbound
7	Liverpool (Cen) A59 All Docks Bootle A5036 Southport (A570) Ormskirk A59 Skelmersdale Wigan Preston (M6 ) M58	A5036 A59	*NORTH*	A59 (M58)
7		A5036 A59	*NORTH*	A59 (M58)
	2 miles, 3 lanes				2 miles, 3 lanes
6	Kirkby Fazakerley A506	A506		A506	Kirkby Fazakerley A506
6		A506		A506
	0.5 miles, 3 lanes				0.5 miles, 3 lanes
5		A580		A580	St Helens A580
5		A580		A580
	0.2 miles, 2 lanes				0.2 miles, 2 lanes
4	St Helens Bootle A580	(A580)		(A580) B5194	Knowsley Industrial Estates A580
4		(A580)		(A580) B5194
	5 miles, 3 lanes				4 miles, 3 lanes
3		(A526)			Huyton A526
3		(A526)
					1 mile, 3 lanes
2	Prescot St Helens A57	B5194 A57		A58 A57	Prescot A57
2		B5194 A57		A58 A57
	2 miles, 3 lanes				2 miles, 3 lanes
1	Manchester Warrington Widnes Huyton Liverpool (Cen) M62 (M6 ) A5300 becomes M57	A5080 M62		M62 (M6) A5080	Manchester Warrington Widnes Huyton Liverpool (Cen) M62 (M6 ) M57 becomes A5300
1		A5080 M62		M62 (M6) A5080
	3 miles, 2 lanes				3 miles, 2 lanes
		A562	*SOUTH*	A562 (M56)	Liverpool Speke A562 Widnes Runcorn A562 (M56 )
		A562	*SOUTH*	A562 (M56)