THE TRUTH ABOUT BRITAIN’S FIRST MOTORWAY
by Brian White
There seems to be an increasing reluctance in the media to accept that Britain’s first motorway was opened in Lancashire in 1958 by the then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
This modern misrepresentation is in danger of changing the course of history regarding the development of motorways in Britain.
The tendency is to portray the first motorway as the M1. The M1 was not opened until 2nd November 1959, almost one year later. The M1 opening ceremony had been downgraded from Prime Minister to the Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples.
The confusion may surround the expression M1. This in some people’s minds may indicate the first. The simple and correct explanation is that the M1 was designed to run parallel with the A1 trunk road. The M6 parallel with the A6, The M2 with the A2 and so on. All following the English precedent like spokes of a wheel radiating from London.
The Preston By Pass was part of the planned M6 north/south motorway system (running alongside the main A6 London to Carlisle). This planning took place as early as the 1930’s. It was the first leg of the overall Government plan for motorways in Britain.
It was built to the motorway standards and specifications of the day. It was controlled by new motorway regulations and had a specially trained and dedicated team of Police officers assigned to patrol. They had liveried vehicles, and carried emergency equipment; signs etc, more sophisticated than ‘ordinary’ Police patrol vehicles. There was even a motorway Police station (later renamed Motorway Police Post) purpose built at Samlesbury, right alongside the motorway.
When the Prime Minister officially opened the M6 Preston By Pass he referred to the “new motorway” in his inaugural speech. He also unveiled a large granite plinth alongside the motorway with the words.
“PRESTON BY-PASS BRITAINS FIRST MOTORWAY OPENED 5 DEC 1958 BY THE PRIME MINISTER THE RT HON HAROLD MACMILLAN M.P.”
RULES OF THE DAY
The opening of the Preston By-Pass marks the beginning of a new era of motoring in Britain. It is the first link in the network of motorways, which, progressively completed, will contribute to an increasing extent to the health of the community and to the national economy.
The national motorways in general and the Preston By-pass in particular are designed to enable traffic to travel safely at high speeds, and to minimise the chance of accidents arising from bad driving.
These objectives are achieved principally by: -
- The prohibition of pedestrians, cyclists and animals.
- The prohibition of access from adjacent land and the elimination of all cross traffic by the bridging of all roads and footpaths, etc… encountered on the route.
- Dual carriageways separated by a central reservation.
- The provision at junctions of acceleration and deceleration lanes which enable traffic to enter or leave the stream of traffic on the Motorway in safety.
- The adoption of easy gradients and very large radius curves.
- The absence of raised kerbs and the provision of hard shoulders on the nearside of the carriageway for use in emergency halts.
- Sign posts of a size which can be read both by day and by night without the need for a driver to slow down.
- The provision of road surfaces with the highest possible resistance to skidding.