A56 road
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| Route information | ||
| Maintained by List
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| Length | 71.46 mi (115.00 km) | |
| Major junctions | ||
| West end |  A59 Broughton | |
| Location | ||
| Country | Primary destinations Runcorn | Warrington Altrincham Manchester Bury Burnley |
| Road network | ||
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The A56 is a road in England which extends between the city of Chester in Cheshire and the village of Broughton in North Yorkshire. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections, and traverses environments as diverse as the dense urban sprawl of inner city Manchester and the lightly populated region of rural east Lancashire. The road includes a short section of trunk road between the end of the M66 motorway near Ramsbottom and the M65 motorway west of Burnley.
Route description
The road begins as Frodsham Street in the centre of
The road crosses the
The A56 takes the name of Chester Road and continues north-eastwards through Stretford and Hulme into Manchester city centre, where it takes on the name Deansgate, one of Manchester's main shopping streets and thoroughfares. At the end of Deansgate, the A56 takes on the name of Victoria Street as it passes Manchester Victoria railway station. Since 2012, most of Victoria Street has been pedestrianised with planters, but the road markings still remain underneath.
Turning sharply to the north-west, the A56 leaves Manchester and goes through the
The A56 becomes dual carriageway, and traffic from the M66 can continue onto this trunk road section only. Traffic from the A680 and the A676 can also join the A56. Again heading roughly due northwards the A56 bypasses Haslingden and Accrington before joining the M65 motorway at Junction 8, slightly to the west of Burnley.
After joining the M65, the A56 disappears from the maps, only to reappear approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north east close to M65 Junction 13 at a junction with the
Taking an easterly direction, the A56 goes through Colne before turning sharply to the north. Now cutting through the more rural parts of east Lancashire the road passes Foulridge and Earby, finally reaching its termination point where it merges with the A59 road to the west of Broughton in North Yorkshire.
History
Prior to the construction of the M65, M66 and connecting roads, the route continued through Edenfield and into Rawtenstall. The route then passed through the centre of Burnley and on to Nelson, this section is now marked as an extension of the A682.[1]
See also
- M56 motorway
- Chester to Manchester Line
References
- ^ Sheet 95 – Blackburn and Burnley (Map). 1 inch:mile. 7th series. Ordnance Survey. 1961.
External links
A roads in Zone 5 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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