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The M58 is not all it was meant to be. There was supposed to be another section of this road east of the M6 connecting it to the M61, and thereby providing another Liverpool to Manchester link. There was also meant to be a much better connection into Liverpool to the west. This never happened, of course, and without it the M58 doesn't seem to reach its full potential, remaining fairly quiet at all times of day. How the M6 interchange would have been adapted for through east-west movements doesn't bear thinking about.
The route was almost finished as a Wigan council scheme to be called the A5225 - a watered down 21st century road scheme that wouldn't quite have reached the M61. The original plan, though, was unusual in having two places where its terminus was provided for - a set of flared carriageways on the A58 approaching the M61, and an underpass just to the north that was never put into service.
Junction 2 is missing from the M58, for another never-finished idea. The M59 would have set off north from here, bypassing Preston to the west and ending on the M55, which is also missing junction 2. You may get the idea that the M58 is a bit of an unfinished job - the truth is that it was cobbled out of other bits of road as it is. Much of the eastern half used to be the A506, built as part of the Skelmersdale New Town development and once called the Regional Road.
The M58 has more CBRD "Bad Junctions" per mile than any other - one for every four miles of its route, on average. Take a look at the links to the right of this page. The M58 also has the distinction of being the only motorway to use a slang word (not an abbreviation) appear on its signs. "Skelmersdale" is referred to in places as "Skem".
Factfile
| Start | Aintree (M57, A59) |
|---|---|
| Finish | Wigan (M6) |
| Passes | Skelmersdale |
| Length | 12 miles |
| Terminates | None |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | None |
Images
Views of the M58 from on and off the road. If you have a photo to contribute, contact me.
Exiting the M6 southbound and turning around the tight loop to reach junction 6, the signs here are unusual.
Photo by Steven Jukes
The link road to the A577 - arguably part of the M58 itself - is a rare example of a single carriageway road under motorway restrictions.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Heading west away from junction 6, we have just two lanes and a wide gap where the flyover for the next section towards the M61 would have been. A little way beyond here, we spontaneously grow a third lane.
Photo by Steven Jukes
From there until Switch Island, the motorway is unspeakably dull and never particularly busy. It has three lanes all the way that cross flat countryside, and often have a tedious straight sections.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Approaching Switch Island, the third lane vanishes again, and there are painfully obvious clues that this was only meant to be a sliproad.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
| Junction | Westbound | Eastbound | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (M57 J7) | Kirkby Widnes M57  Aintree Liverpool (Cen) A59 Bootle All Docks  A5036 |
A59 M57 |
WEST A5036  |
A59 |
N/A |  |
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     |
 |
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1 mile, 2 lanes  |
 1 mile, 2 lanes |
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 |
 |
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| 1 mile, 3 lanes |
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| 1 | Kirkby (A506) Maghull |
(A506) |  |
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 |
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| 4 miles, 3 lanes |
5 miles, 3 lanes |
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| 3 | Ormskirk St Helens Rainford A570 |
A570 |   |
A570 | Ormskirk St Helens Rainford A570 |
|
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 |
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| 2 miles, 3 lanes |
2 miles, 3 lanes |
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| 4 | Skelmersdale (E & Cen) (A577) |
  |
(A577) | Skelmersdale (E & Cen) (A577) |
|
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| 2 miles, 3 lanes |
2 miles, 3 lanes |
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| 5 | Skelmersdale (W) Up Holland A577 |
 |
A577 | Skelmersdale (W) Up Holland A577 |
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| 2 miles, 3 lanes |
2 miles, 3 lanes |
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| (M6 J26) | N/A | M6 |
 (A577) EAST |
M6 |
The NORTH WEST Preston M6 The SOUTH Manchester Warrington M6 Wigan (A577) |
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With thanks to Chris McKenna for information in this section.
