Highways Agency

• 50 years of Motorways: special birthday celebrated with opening of £174 million M6 extension

Managing our motorways is a 24-hour operation, 365 days of the year

5th December 2008

Today’s UK motorway network is heavily used but in good condition and among the safest in the world – thanks to the high standards set by earlier engineers and those responsible for maintaining, improving and operating the motorway network we know today.

As we mark 50 years since the opening of the Preston Bypass, the UK’s first motorway standard road, it’s time to reflect on the countless individuals who have shaped the network of today and to look ahead to the motorways of the future.

The motorway network is one that is used every day by millions of road users for either business or pleasure. It has transformed peoples’ lives and made a significant contribution to the economic and social fabric of the nation.

As an executive agency of the Department for Transport, the Highways Agency is investing in a safe, reliable and sustainable motorway network for the 21st Century. We are working to make journeys on our motorways safer and more reliable, and giving drivers real-time information to help them plan their journeys.

Our Traffic Officers, control centres and information services have made a real difference to the experience of motorway driving over the past few years. Meanwhile the process of maintaining the motorway network to keep it safe and in good condition for road users goes on, with more of the routine maintenance work now taking place overnight and during less busy periods to keep as many lanes as possible open for drivers during the busy times.

Meanwhile, our engineers are working to develop the network for the future, taking steps to make it more sustainable, and investigating the best of new information and traffic management technology, together with developments in construction and new materials.

As outlined in the Department for Transport’s July 2008 Command Paper ‘Roads – Delivering Choice and Reliability’, the Government is committed to investing in our road network to improve and make better use of England’s motorways and other key roads. This will include measures like opening the hard shoulder when traffic is at its heaviest, alongside some conventional widening where that makes best sense.

So, let us all look forward to the next 50 years.

About our motorways in England:

• The Highways Agency is responsible for England's motorways and major A roads, which equal around 7100 km in length.
• Our network now carries a third of all road traffic in England and two thirds of all heavy freight traffic.
• The length of motorways in England, (including DBFO routes - e.g. the M40), is in excess of 2600 km.
• Each year more than 130 billion vehicle kilometres of journeys are undertaken on the Highways Agency network.
• Each of our motorways carry anything between 30,000 and 200,000 vehicles per day.
• Some of our busiest motorways include the M6, M25 and the M1.
• The Highways Agency road network, ranging from motorways to single carriageway trunk roads (the major A roads), is valued at over £85 billion.
• Over 1500 Highways Agency Traffic Officers patrol our network, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

About the M6:

Where does the M6 start and finish?

The M6 starts just north of Rugby, adjoining the M1 where it meets the A14 in Warwickshire. It ends immediately north of Carlisle in Cumbria, at junction 44 with the A7 and A74 to Gretna. It passes through HA West Mids and North West regions, with East Mids also patrolling the stretch from M1 to M6 J1.

What is the M6's total length?

230 miles, of main carriageway (excluding new Carlisle to Guards Mill section).

How many vehicles per day use the M6?

In 2006, approximately 125,000 vehicles per day used the M6, and 25%-30% of those were Large Goods Vehicles.

How many junctions does the M6 have?

49 junctions in total, including 10 limited junctions.

How many overbridges?

56 Footway bridges, 8 rail bridges, and 265 road bridges