M56 motorway
road in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, England
The M56, or North Cheshire Motorway, is a motorway in North West England. It links Chester with Manchester. It also links to the A55, which links drivers to North Wales. The motorway also passes Manchester Airport. The motorway also crosses the M6, linking it to Chester and Manchester. The motorway is about 33 miles (53 km) long.[1]
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Cheshire Motorway | ||||
_map.svg) | ||||
 Looking east from Junction 14 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
Part of  E22 | ||||
| Maintained by Highways England | ||||
| Length | 33.3 mi (53.6 km) | |||
| Existed | 1971–present | |||
| History | Opened: 1971 Completed: 1981 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| East end | Cheadle | |||
  J1 → M60 motorway   J9 → M6 motorway   J15 → M53 motorway | ||||
| West end | Mollington | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Counties | Greater Manchester, Cheshire | |||
| Primary destinations | Manchester Manchester Airport Warrington Runcorn Ellesmere Port | |||
| Road network | ||||
| ||||
Junctions
change| M56 motorway junctions | |||||
| mile | km | Eastbound exits (B Carriageway) | Junction | Westbound exits (A Carriageway) | |
| Motorway merges onto M60 continuing towards Stockport | M60 J4 | Start of motorway (Sharston Spur) | |||
| Manchester City Centre, Didsbury A34 | J1 | No access (on-slip only) | |||
| No access (on-slip only) | J2 | Altrincham, Wythenshawe A560, Liverpool (M62), Bolton (M61) (M60) | |||
End of motorway  Road continues as A5103 towards Manchester |
J3A | Sharston, Altrincham, Baguley A560 | |||
Altrincham, Wythenshawe, Wythenshawe  , Cheadle A560
|
Start of motorway (Princess Parkway Spur) 
| ||||
| Manchester City Centre, (M60(N&W)), (M62(W)), (M61) (A5103) | J3 (TOTSO EB) |
No access (on-slip only) | |||
| 7.2 | 11.6 | No access (on-slip only) | J4 | Wythenshawe | |
| End of motorway Wilmslow, Wythenshawe A555 (B5166), Business Park, Terminal 3 Terminal 1, |
|
Start of motorway (Airport Spur)
| |||
| Terminal 2 | No access (on-slip only) | ||||
| 7.8 | 12.6 | Manchester 
|
J5 | Manchester , Quarry Bank Mill
| |
| 8.9 | 14.3 | Hale, Wilmslow, Macclesfield A538 | J6 | Wilmslow, Hale, Macclesfield, Manchester Airport Freight Terminal A538 | |
| Entering Greater Manchester | River Bollin | ||||
| River Bollin | Entering Cheshire | ||||
| 12.4 | 19.9 | Northwich A556, Altrincham A56 | J7 | Birmingham (M6(S)), Northwich A556, | |
| No access | J8 | No access (on-slip only) | |||
| 17.6 | 28.3 | Preston, Birmingham M6, Leeds, Manchester (N) (M62), Lymm (A50) Lymm Truck Stop |
J9 Services |
Preston M6, Liverpool (M62), Warrington, Lymm (A50) Lymm Truck Stop | |
| 20.8 | 33.4 | Warrington, Northwich A49 | J10 | Northwich, Warrington A49 | |
| 23.8 | 38.3 | Runcorn (East), Warrington A56 | J11 | Preston Brook, Daresbury A56 | |
| A533 | J11A | A533 | |||
| 26.8 | 43.1 | Liverpool , Runcorn, Widnes A557
|
J12 | Liverpool , Frodsham, Runcorn, Widnes A557
| |
| Weaver Viaduct | |||||
| 31.9 | 51.4 | Stanlow, Helsby A5117 Chester services |
J14 Services |
Helsby, Stanlow, Chester Zoo A5117 Chester services | |
| 34.5 | 55.6 | No access (on-slip only) | J15 | Chester, Wrexham M53 | |
| No access (on-slip only) | Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead M53 | ||||
| Start of motorway
|
J16 | End of motorway Road continues as A494 towards North Wales | |||
| Ellesmere Port A5117, Whitchurch (A41) Non-motorway traffic |
Hoylake, Chester A540, Birkenhead (A550) | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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References
change- ↑ "Motorway Database » M56". CBRD. Retrieved 1 January 2012.