A57(M) motorway

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A57(M) motorway
Length	2 miles 3.2 km
Direction	East - West
Start	Hulme
Primary destinations	Manchester, UMIST
End	Ardwick
Construction dates	1967 - entire motorway
Motorways joined	n/a

The A57(M) motorway in Manchester, England, known as the Mancunian Way and is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. It is part of the A57 which runs East-West through Greater Manchester and links the M602 and M67 motorways.

Contents 1 Route 2 History 3 Trivia 4 Junctions 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Route

The road forms part of the Manchester Inner Ring Road and runs south of the city centre. Running eastbound, it starts as a 2 lane dual carrigeway and passes underneath the A56. Following this, the road widens to 3 lanes. At the next junction which leads to the A5103, the road reduces to 2 lanes and becomes an elevated highway. This section runs atop link roads and two roundabouts before reaching the next junction with the A34. At this point the road passes through the centre of the campuses of UMIST (now part of the University of Manchester) and Manchester Metropolitan University. It then runs for around 3/4 mile before reaching its junction with the A6 which it crosses on a bridge before dropping down to ground level. It then finishes on the A635 and continues east bound and also continues to be called the Mancunian Way.

[edit] History

It was opened in 1967 as the A57, only being upgraded to motorway in the 1970s^[1]. At the time of its opening the Manchester Evening News referred to it as the "highway in the sky"^[2].

In 1992 the westbound junction was rebuilt to replace a temporary flyover arrangement, whereby the A56 passed over a roundabout where the A57(M) ended. At the same time a new flyover was built over the A6.

[edit] Trivia

Just before the junction with the A34 is an unfinished slip road (stub) that ends in mid-air, although it is hidden from the road by barriers. This was intended to be part of a dual carrigeway into the city centre,^[3] but was abandoned when it was discovered that the ramp would send traffic the wrong way down a one-way street.^{[citation needed]}

The last half a mile of the Mancunian Way in the east is part of the A635, the A57 heading south east from the same junction as the A6, though it clearly states A57(M) on the signage as you enter westbound. However, Department for Transport documentation states differently ^[4].

The road is referenced in the BBC television drama Life On Mars. The central character, Sam Tyler, is knocked down by a car and "awakens" in 1973. The accident occurs by the Mancunian Way, and when he awakens, he does so on wasteland, with a nearby billboard advertising the planned "Highway in the Sky". Of course, the road was long completed by 1973.

[edit] Junctions

Note: motorway has no junction numbers

A57(M) Motorway
Eastbound exits	Junction	Westbound exits
Road continues as A635 to Ashton-under-Lyne & Oldham		Manchester Picadilly, Stockport, Hyde A6 Sheffield (A57)
Manchester Picadilly, Stockport, Hyde A6 Sheffield (A57)		Start of Motorway
UMIST, Wilmslow, Cheadle, A34		No Exit
No exit		Didsbury, Birmingham, Manchester Airport, Chester, A5103
Didsbury, Birmingham, Manchester Airport, Chester A5103		No exit
Start of Motorway		Stretford, Sale, Castlefield, G-Mex A56
Stretford, Sale, Castlefield, G-Mex A56		Road continues as A57 to Salford and M602

[edit] See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• CBRD Motorway Database - A57(M)
• CBRD Videos M602 / A57(M)
• Manchester Evening News, Manchester Online - Eyewitness in Manchester Newsletter, including pictures
• Pathetic Motorways - A57(M)
• The Motorway Archive - A57(M)

	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: M16 • M41 • M63 • A18(M) • A40(M) • A41(M) • A102(M) • A6144(M)    Unbuilt: M12 • M13 • M15 • M31 • M64    Future: M4 Toll