M53 motorway

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M53 motorway
Length	20 miles 32 km
Direction	North - South
Start	Wallasey
Primary destinations	Birkenhead Ellesmere Port Queensferry
End	Chester
Construction dates	1972 - 1982
Motorways joined	11 - M56 motorway

The M53 is a motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It can also be referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway. It is 20 miles (32 km) long and runs between Wallasey in the north and Chester. Part of this motorway was originally the M531.

1 Route
2 History
3 Junctions
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Route

Starting at the northern end, the motorway starts close to Wallasey. It loops round the north west of Birkenhead and then runs south as a dual 3-lane route between Upton, Woodchurch in the west and Prenton. From Junctions 1 to 3 it runs parallel to the Borderlands railway line. It crosses this line south of junction 3. From this junction it proceeds south to the west of Bebington through junction 4 and then further south for 3 miles (where it crosses the Wirral railway line, before it narrows to dual 2 lanes^[1] and turns sharply to the east. At junction 5, traffic for Wales can take the A41, A550 & A494 to join the A55 near Ewloe. The road passes north and then east of Hooton, then to the east of Overpool and Woolverham and with Ellesmere Port to the west.

South of Junction 10 the route enters a more rural setting, crosses the M56 motorway and then heads south and terminates on the A55.

[edit] History

This motorway was originally two separate projects, the M53 and M531. The M53 was originally proposed to run from the Kingsway Tunnel to Backford ^[2]. The M531 would have run from between the current junctions 4 & 5 and provided a connection with the M56 for eastbound travel.

[edit] M531

The first section of the M531 was built to improve access to the Vauxhall Motors factory near Ellesmere Port. It was opened in 1968 as a non-designated road^[2]. Subsequently this road was extended further south to meet the A5117 and was designated as the M531. In March 1981 the M531 was lengthened to meet the M56 and at this stage the whole route was redesignated as the M53.

[edit] M53

Construction on the M53 started in 1969. It was to be built in stages as part of a strategic route to North Wales for traffic from Merseyside. In 1972 this first section to junction 5 was opened. A junction was partially built to allow extension of the motorway further south west, around 1 mile west of junction 5. The unbuilt motorway would have provided a bypass of the A41 and would likely have terminated on the M56^[3], though exactly where is unknown. The unfinished junction for this extension has now been demolished.

The final section of the M53 provided a link to Chester from the M56 and was opened in 1982. No plans are known to exist to complete the originally planned M53^[4].

[edit] Dates

Junctions 1 to 5 were opened in 1972
Junctions 5 to 8 were redesignated as motorway in 1974 as part of the M531 ^[5]
Junctions 8 to 10 opened in 1975 as part of the M531
Junctions 10 to 11 were opened in 1981
Junctions 11 to 12 were opened in 1982

[edit] Junctions

M53 Motorway
Northbound	Junction	Southbound
Road continues as (tunnel)* to Liverpool*		Start of Motorway
Claughton, Wallasey, A554	J1	Bidston, Wallasey, A554
Upton, Moreton, Hoylake A5027	J2	Upton, Moreton, Hoylake A5027
Tranmere, Heswall, West Kirby, Woodchurch, Prenton, A552	J3	Tranmere, Heswall, West Kirby, Woodchurch, Prenton, A552
Heswall A5137 Bebington, Port Sunlight B5137	J4	Heswall A5137 Bebington, Port Sunlight
Eastham, Hooton A41 Queensferry (A550)	J5	Bebington, Eastham, Hooton A41 Queensferry (A550)
Stanlow Refinery B5132	J6	Stanlow Refinery B5132
Overpool, Vauxhall motors B5132	J7	Overpool, Vauxhall motors B5132
Overpool B5132 Industrial Estate A5032	J8	Industrial Estate A5032
Ellesmere Port, A5032	J9	Ellesmere Port, A5032
Elton, Whitbyheath, Cheshire Oaks A5117 Queensferry (A550)	J10	Elton, Whitbyheath, Cheshire Oaks A5117 Queensferry (A550)
Runcorn, Warrington, Manchester M56	J11	Runcorn, Warrington, Manchester M56
Chester, Helsby A56	J12	Chester A56
Start of Motorway		Road continues as A55* to North Wales*

[edit] See also

List of motorways in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

	Motorways in the United Kingdom
Great Britain: M1 • M2 • M3 • M4 • M5 • M6 • M6 Toll • M8 • M9 • M10 • M11 • M18 • M20 • M23 • M25 • M26 • M27 • M32 • M40 • M42 • M45 • M48 • M49 • M50 • M53 • M54 • M55 • M56 • M57 • M58 • M60 • M61 • M62 • M65 • M66 • M67 • M69 • M73 • M74 • M77 • M80 • M90 • M180 • M181 • M271 • M275 • M602 • M606 • M621 • M876 • M898
A1(M) • A3(M) • A38(M) • A48(M) • A57(M) • A58(M) A64(M) • A66(M) • A74(M) • A167(M) • A194(M) • A308(M) • A329(M) • A404(M) • A601(M) • A627(M) • A823(M)

	Northern Ireland: M1 • M2 • M3 • M5 • M12 • M22 • A8(M)	edit

Past: M41 • M63 • A18(M) • A40(M) • A41(M) • A102(M) • A6144(M) Unbuilt: M12 • M15 • M64 Future: M4 Toll