M6 - Heysham Link Road

[accykeef]

My money is on the Scale Hall junction being an additional bottle neck.
Traffic from the M6 turning right and traffic from Heysham turning right.
It is traffic flows crossing like this which causes traffic jams.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I notice it says access to be agreed with Developer and Restaurant. Presumably if it is likely to affect business it won't go down too well with McDonalds.

[trevnhil]

I can't honestly see it affecting McDonald's too much. You already depart at the rear of the building. The new route is just a little longer. Road safety has no doubt played a part in the decision'

Trev..

[trevnhil]

Hi all.
Well no apologies from me for resurrecting this old (but important) topic.

Whilst searching for something else on You Tube I found a brilliant animated 'fly over' of the new M6 link road.

Whether you like the idea of the new road or not, I believe that this animation has been brilliantly done and is perhaps worth 10 minutes of your time.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNuaiwMGb1A
























Cheers. Trev

[pompeypete]

Looks great Trev, no traffic to worry about either

[accykeef]

Thanks for that Trevor - it gives a better idea of what it will all look like. I am all in favour of it but it is not in my back yard. If the high embankments are screened with trees, it will not impact on locals as much as I thought.

[trevnhil]

One of the highest areas for the road that I can think of is where it goes over the main railway line.
The road past the crematorium has a railway bridge over it, and the new road would have to be pretty high to clear that road, and the mainline railway.

I am still not sure if it is all going ahead. The M6 link does not feature much in our local newspaper.

Trev..

[WillowTheWhisp]

I've dithered about commenting on this because it doesdn't affect me in the sense that the road will not/would not intrude on my own personal living space. I was just thinking this morning though of how some people were horrified at the proposed route of the M65 here and how some houses went up for sale at rock bottom prices (we should have bought one) and now the road is there and has very little effect on anyone living near except for the road that no longer leads anywhere and people up there have to detour about 100 yards and go along the new road, which when you think about it has to be an improvement for them regarding passing traffic.

On the whole this M6 link road does seem to go past a lot of fields and trees and not many houses.

I wouldn't worry about the lack of traffic on it Keef I recall the first time we used the M65 there was only us and another car on it! That didn't last long. It's not quite as bad as the M25 yet but at times it's getting there! ;D

[accykeef]

Building new roads has an immediate impact but a few years down the line, people just accept they are there. My sister lives within view of the M65 and although you can hear the traffic. it doesn't affect their lives at all. The dust and mud during construction is a pain but it is only for a short time.

I remember the M65 very well as I did some haulage work for the first phase from Whitebirk to Nelson and worked all weekend when they slid, yes slid this railway bridge into place at the Hapton end of the Accrington Easterly Bypass.


Trivia Time.
It weighs 200,000 tons and was built next to the railway line.
After the last train at 6pm. on a Friday night, the lines, sleepers and ballast were lifted, the embankment was excavated away, the new bridge was slid into place, the line reinstated and a test train went over it at 5am Monday morning.

I must have driven through the gates on the left, next to the lamp post, several hundred times that weekend. It leads to a track near the ol Huncoat power station.

[WillowTheWhisp]

The road at Hapton cuts right through where my Granddad used to keep his hens! Mind you, they actually demolished some of the houses too further up from where he lived. The streets used to be longer. I remember when it came through Clayton, I was working there at the time and it was amazing how they managed to keep Whalley Road open whilst building a motorway under it by using various different routes and twists. At one time the Nat West bank (now a funeral home) was all by itself in the middle of a traffic island. ;D

[mpprh]

So, will this link road happen ?

www.thevisitor.co.uk/community/education/8m-college-scheme-paves-way-for-link-road-1-4897466

[trevnhil]

I too would like to know if it will happen. I suppose it is common sense that if the college are on a rebuilding programme, to make sure they don't build in the way of the (proposed???) new road.

In my humble searches on the internet I can find no recent news about the road.

However here is a picture of what the overall scheme will look like...

www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/dbimages/thumbnail.asp?id=33297

Trev..

[accykeef]

I understand their need to create new buildings if they wish to expand but why are the College prepared to spend money demolishing the old buildings when there has been no finl decision about the link road. Build the new bits but carry on using the old buildings for something until they are purchased by the road scheme amd demolished by them. Unless a deal has already been done allowing the proposed college expansion to take place.

[trevnhil]

What is or has happened at Broad Oak Garden centre. If I remember rightly the new road was going through their premises.

Trev..

[accykeef]

Broad Oak Garden Centre is still there but you are quite right, the road will pass right through the middle of it. When you look at the map, there is a clear, undeveloped route through Torrisholme like this has been the preferred route for many years. I wonder, in a cynical sort of fashion, whether Broad Oak rent the land off the Council or maybe even the College on a short term lease arrangement. I am not casting nasturtiums here, although we do have quite a few spare.