M61 interchange, view west, 12 January 1995
M61 interchange, view west (see all photos of the same view)
The foundations for the long viaduct over the M61 interchange, and some of the first bridge piers, are visible here. On the left, the original junction for the M61's link road to the A6 is seen in its original configuration. Its bridge is re-used in the final junction to carry one side of the large new roundabout over the M61.
Structure 14/14a (M61 interchange bridges)
M61 motorway
What's new
The monster seen from below
What might it have been like to stand in one spot and witness the arrival, and the uncertainty, of plans for an urban motorway in West London?
The road that made no sense
It was the UK's only single-carriageway motorway, and twenty years ago it ceased to exist. This is the story of the strange fascination it held, and of my place in history.
The forever bottleneck, part 2
The second part of the story, where we learn why exactly the M4 gets narrower on the final approach to Europe’s biggest city.
Have you seen...
Sir James Drake
County Surveyor and Bridgemaster for Lancashire in the 1950s and 60s, Drake was instrumental in the motorway revolution.
