Motorway Database
You are here: Home - Motorway Database - M57







Factfile - Images - Timeline - Exit List
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 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.
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 | Huyton (M62) |
| Finish | Aintree (A59) |
| Passes | Liverpool |
| Length | 9 miles |
| Terminates | None |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | None |
Images
Views of the M57 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
The M57 technically doesn't connect to any other motorway, and all the way along everything is roundabouts, roundabouts, roundabouts. The only free-flowing junction is 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.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Construction Timeline
When the various parts of the M57 were built, listed in chronological order.
| Open | Jct | Section |
|---|---|---|
| 1972 | J4-7 | Liverpool Outer Ring Road - Phase 1 |
| 1974 | J1-4 | Liverpool Outer Ring Road - Phase 2 |
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
With thanks to Chris McKenna, E McCarthy, Nick Jablonski and Paul Martin for information in this section.













2 miles, 3 lanes













