M55 motorway

The M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England. It links the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 at Preston. The motorway is 19.6 kilometres long. One kilometre was built in 1958 as part of the UK’s first motorway, the Preston Bypass. The rest was completed in 1975. It has three lanes in each direction for most of its length. The M55 was built to improve travel between Blackpool and the national motorway network. The first section opened as part of the M6 Preston Bypass in 1958. The full route to Blackpool opened in 1975 after traffic demands grew. Some of the construction material came from a disused airfield at RNAS Inskip. A new junction was added in 2023 as part of a City Deal scheme. The motorway crosses the Lancaster Canal and the West Coast Main Line railway. It passes north of Wesham before ending near Blackpool. The western part follows the old Blackpool Branch railway line. A test landing by a Jaguar jet was carried out on the motorway in 1975. Junctions 3 and 4 serve as reporting points for aircraft around Blackpool Airport.