Driving in the UK - M6 Motorway - J20 to J21a - Front View with Rearview Mirror

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• published: 21 Sep 2013
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The M6 is the UK's longest motorway, running from the Catthorpe Interchange on the M1 near Rugby, to the A74(M) near Gretna Green on the border with Scotland, running for 232 miles (374km). Part of the M6, the Preston Bypass, was the UK's first motorway to open to traffic in December 1958. Over the next decade, most of the rest of the motorway was constructed, and by May 1972, the M6 was complete between the M1 and Carlisle, leaving a few mile gap between Carlisle and the A74(M) at Gretna, which was finally constructed in 2008. There were plans in the 1990s to renumber the A74(M) and M74 in Scotland as the M6, but this plan has been dropped. Planning for the M6 between Warrington and Preston began in the mid 1950s. The most difficult obstacle was the crossing of the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal east of Warrington. Advance works began on constructing the 1,471 yard-long (1,345m) Thelwall Viaduct in September 1959, and the main construction works started in February 1961. The whole section between the A50 (Junction 20) and Preston (Junction 29) opened in July 1963. In the mid-1990s, a second viaduct was added at Thelwall, and the existing structure refurbished, widening the motorway to four lanes plus hard-shoulder in each direction, to cope with increasing traffic levels. This video shows a northbound journey along the M6 between junctions 20/20a (M56/A50) and 21a (M62). It is available in three versions: Front View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6uGzVyoONY Rear View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi53yIk9qX4 Front View with Rearview Mirror (this video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIa3QG0sqTw Visit the DriveCamUK Website: http://sites.google.com/site/drivecamuk