M58 motorway

The M58 is a motorway in north-west England, running 19.3 kilometres from Switch Island near Liverpool through open countryside into Lancashire and ending at the M6 near Wigan. It passes under the Merseyrail Northern Line and crosses flat farmland south of Maghull and Bickerstaffe. The route curves south-east of Skelmersdale before reaching the M6 at Orrell in Greater Manchester. The motorway was built in stages between 1966 and 1980 to link the new town of Skelmersdale with the national motorway network. Sir Alfred McAlpine and Fairclough Civil Engineering constructed much of the early spine roads. Hervey Rhodes, Baron Rhodes, opened the final link in October 1970. By 1977 the road had become a full motorway, though early users struggled to obey the new rules. Today the M58 is a three-lane route from end to end, with wide grass margins and gentle curves across open land. The section south of Skelmersdale still shows the original dual-carriageway alignment with wide central reservations. Motorists pass beneath railway bridges and over farm tracks, with few buildings near the carriageway.