The forgotten M62 relief road which aimed to run through Bury
Road rage, drivers weaving in and out of lanes, it's certainly hectic, but it could have been different. Before what we know as the M60 was named so in 1998, with the connection of one continuous ring road, the motorway network surrounding Manchester comprised the M66, M63, and M62. At the northern end, in between Prestwich and Whitefield, a section of the M62 (now the M60) started to become notorious for traffic as Manchester's urban sprawl accelerated in the 1980s.
Measures were put in place to alleviate congestion, in the early 1990s, with the section between Junction 14 and 18, Simister Island, being widened to four lanes each way. But, as anyone who drives along that section knows, even with four lanes it's absolutely packed. And why is that?
Well, the section of road has to deal with traffic from Manchester, and traffic traveling from west to east over the Pennines, and vice versa. Given this heavy load of vehicles, drastic action was proposed: another road. The idea being, from Simister Island to Winton (Junction 12 of the M62), a separate M62 relief road would be built, to share the burden of traffic.
The route had its first consultants appointed in 1987. It was to have two junctions, one at the M61/A666 (M) for Bolton, and another at the M66. So why didn't it come to pass?
Like a lot of infrastructure plans in the region, including the "lost" M56 section between Wigan and Bolton, it didn't survive the dreaded cuts. In 1994, the idea was termed as a "long term" improvement plan, shunning any responsibility for the government to build it quickly. And a year later, the idea was cancelled for good.
In 2025, it's easy to look back on it with rose-tinted spectacles, and think of an alternative reality where traffic along the road would be calmer. But the idea of a relief road was met with fury by some. The Bolton News[4] wrote in 1995: "Campaigners against the eight-lane "motorway from hell" were this afternoon celebrating the sensational news.
"And Bury South MP David Sumberg said he was delighted after transport secretary Sir George Young confirmed rumours that the scheme was to be ditched."
It was Worsley MP Terry Lewis who coined the phrase "motorway from hell".
I wonder if people would feel the same if it was proposed once again.
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