1997: The Completion of a Motorway in Northwestern England

December 18, 1997

The M65 motorway in northwestern England’s ceremonial county of Lancashire was officially completed with the opening of the final segment of that route. This segment encompasses Junctions 1a to 6 within the area between Whitebirk, a suburb in the vicinity of the borough of Blackburn with Darwen; and this motorway’s linkage with the M6 motorway.

“Now complete, the M65 motorway will have a significant impact for road users and residents in a large area of Lancashire,” reported the Lancashire Telegraph at the time. “It is widely anticipated that the new road will bring major economic benefits to East Lancashire by providing the necessary links with the north-south motorway network.”

The inaugural ceremony for those last remaining 13 miles (20.9 kilometers) of the M65 took place beneath Junction 4 at the village of Guide. Jack Straw (born in 1946), who had become home secretary for the government of the United Kingdom more than seven months earlier and would serve in the position until 2001, unveiled a commemorative plaque at that junction. “The case for completing the missing link was undeniable,” Straw said. “The existing motorway was never designed to end at Whitebirk on the route to Blackburn.”

The Accrington Observer reported, “Mr. Straw went on to say how the link would play a vital role in the regeneration of towns and the development of local business and industry.” Other local newspapers similarly highlighted the potential prosperity that a full-fledged M65 could help make possible. “M65 Link Opens New Horizons for Diners,” announced a headline in the Lancashire as a telling example of these expectations.

The M65 in its entirety covers a total of 25.8 miles (41.5 kilometers). The accompanying 2005 photo shows a portion of this motorway between Junctions 7 and 8.

Photo Credit: Paul Johnston-Knight (https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/2302) / M65 between Jn7 and Jn8 / CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)

For more information on motorways in the United Kingdom, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motorways_in_the_United_Kingdom