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Where would we be without the M6? Nowhere at all. It's Britain's longest motorway and Britain's busiest. Part of it was also Britain's first.
The first motorway in Britain was the Preston Bypass, which was then incorporated into the M6 when construction was continued. Today it's found between junction 29 and M55 junction 1. The M6 contains all kinds of ground-breaking sections: the section along the Lake District has won awards for enhancing the landscape, for example. In a more mundane area and the section between Shap and Tebay is the only one in Britain to have an unconnected local road running down the central reservation.
Opened in 2003, the M6 Toll bypasses Birmingham, and is Britain's first toll road. In the pipeline is the A74 upgrade which will take the M6 right up to the border, connecting to the A74(M). The A74(M) and M74 could then be renumbered M6 creating a motorway over 350 miles long.
The most recent change to the M6 came in December 2008, when a new section was opened replacing the old A74 between Carlisle and Gretna, finally providing continuous motorway between England and Scotland. This new part, finally closing the notorious Cumberland Gap, was opened on 5 December, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Preston Bypass, which is the oldest part of the M6 and also the oldest motorway in the UK.
Factfile
| Start | Rugby (M1 & A14) |
| Finish | Gretna (A74(M)) |
| Passes | Coventry, Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Cannock, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Kendal, Penrith, Carlisle |
| Length | 236 miles |
| Terminates | M5, M6 Toll, M54, M58, M61, M65, M69, A500 |
| Spurs | M55, A38(M), A601(M) |
| Meets | M42, M56, M62 |
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With thanks to Paul Martin, Martyn Clapham, David Hollywood, Nic Storr, Terry Singleton and Simon M4Man for information in this section.
