M56 motorway

The M56 motorway runs east to west from Manchester’s southern edge to the edge of Chester. It links North Wales and the Wirral with the rest of North West England and carries business and commuter traffic towards Manchester. Manchester Airport’s main road access comes from the M56, and between junctions nine and sixteen it carries the unsigned European route E22. The motorway began as a 1947 proposal by Cheshire County Council and opened in stages between 1971 and 1981. Ernest Marples announced the first section in 1963, and contractors such as Peter Lind & Company and Leonard Fairclough & Son built the early parts. Later widening in the 1990s added extra lanes between junctions four and six to cope with rising traffic. The road passes south of Wythenshawe and Manchester Airport before crossing the River Bollin into Cheshire. Near junction twelve it crosses the Weaver Viaduct, offering views of Frodsham and the Ineos chemical plant. Between junctions twelve and fourteen it runs beside the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, with the Chester–Warrington railway on the far side. The motorway ends at Dunkirk, where it becomes the A494.