M53 motorway

M53 shield

M53
Looking north near Storeton
Route information
Maintained by Highways England
Length 18.9 mi (30.4 km)
Existed 1972 – present
History Opened: 1972
Completed: 1982
Major junctions
North end Bidston
53°24′41″N 3°04′49″W / 53.4114°N 3.0802°W / 53.4114; -3.0802 (M53 motorway (northern terminus))
 
J11 → M56 motorway
South end Hoole Village
53°12′52″N 2°51′24″W / 53.2144°N 2.8567°W / 53.2144; -2.8567 (M53 motorway (southern terminus))
Location
Counties Merseyside, Cheshire
Primary
destinations		 Wallasey
Birkenhead
Ellesmere Port
Chester
Road network
← M50M54 →

The M53 is an 18.9-mile (30.4 km) motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and Cheshire on the Wirral Peninsula in England.[1] It can also be referred to as the Mid Wirral Motorway.[2] It runs between the Kingsway Tunnel, at Wallasey in the north, and the A55 at Chester.[1]

The main reason for the motorway was to provide a through route to the new Mersey Road Tunnel, Kingsway, which was built at the same time. Part of this motorway was originally the M531.

Route

Looking northwards, midway between junctions 3 and 4 at Storeton

Starting at the northern end, the motorway starts in Wallasey at the exit slip roads from the Kingsway Tunnel from Liverpool. It loops round the north west of Birkenhead and then runs south as a dual 3-lane route between Upton, Woodchurch in the west and Prenton. From junctions 1 to 3 it runs parallel to the Borderlands railway line. It crosses this line south of junction 3. From this junction it proceeds south to the west of Bebington through junction 4 and then further south for 4 miles (6.4 km) (where it crosses the Wirral railway line), before narrowing to dual 2 lanes[3] and turning sharply to the east. At junction 5, traffic for Wales can take the A41, A550 & A494 to join the A55 near Ewloe. The road passes north and then east of Hooton, then to the east of Overpool and Wolverham and with Ellesmere Port to the west.

South of junction 10 the route enters a more rural setting, passing under the M56 motorway at junction 11. Finally it heads south and becomes the A55 North Wales Expressway at junction 12.

History

This motorway was originally two separate projects, the M53 and M531. The M53 was originally proposed to run from the Kingsway Tunnel to Backford.[4]The M531 would have run from between the current junctions 4 & 5 and provided a connection with the M56 for eastbound travel.

When the M53 was first planned in the early 1960s, it was designed as a route to connect the two Mersey road tunnels with the A55 trunk road on the Welsh border, giving Liverpool and the rest of Merseyside a direct link with Chester and the towns on the North Wales coast.

In the event, the A55 link was never built and instead the M531 (by-passing the eastern side of Chester) was incorporated into the M53.[5]

M531

The first section of the M531 was built to improve access to the Vauxhall Motors factory near Ellesmere Port. It was opened in 1968 as a non-designated road.[4] Subsequently this road was extended further south to meet the A5117 and was designated as the M531. In March 1981 the M531 was lengthened to meet the M56 and at this stage the whole route was redesignated as the M53.

M53

Construction on the M53 started in 1969. It was to be built in stages as part of a strategic route to North Wales for traffic from Merseyside. The route to North Wales was unresolved as there was even an option to run due west from south of junction 4 and cross the River Dee on a barrage. In 1972 this first section from the tunnel to junction 5 where it connected straight into the Vauxhall Motors road was opened. A junction was partially built to allow extension of the motorway further south west, around 1 mile (1.6 km) west of junction 5. The unbuilt motorway would have provided a bypass of the A41 and would likely have terminated on the M56,[6] though exactly where is unknown. The unfinished junction for this extension has now been demolished.

The final section of the M53 provided a link to Chester from the M56 and was opened in 1982. No plans are known to exist to complete the originally planned M53.[5]

Dates

  • Junctions 1 to 5 were opened in 1972
  • Junctions 5 to 8 were redesignated as motorway in 1974 as part of the M531[7]
  • Junctions 8 to 10 opened in 1975 as part of the M531
  • Junctions 10 to 11 were opened in 1981
  • Junctions 11 to 12 were opened in 1982

Junctions

Data[8] from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.

M53 motorway junctions
mile km Northbound exits (B carriageway) Junction Southbound exits (A carriageway)
0.0 0.0 End of motorway
Road continues as Wallasey Tunnel towards Liverpool		 J1 Birkenhead, New Brighton, Wallasey A5139 (A554)
Non-motorway traffic
Birkenhead [Note 1] A5139 Start of motorway
Wallasey, Birkenhead A554
End of motorway
West Kirby A551 (B5139)
Moreton A551, Hoylake (A553)		 J2A Start of motorway
(Moreton Spur)
Upton A551
6.5 10.5 Hoylake, West Kirby (A551) J2 Hoylake, West Kirby (A551)
8.6 13.8 Birkenhead A552 J3 Birkenhead, Heswall A552
11.7 18.8 Clatterbridge, Heswall, Bebington A5137 J4 Bebington, Bromborough, Clatterbridge, Neston A5137
15.8 25.4 Birkenhead, Queensferry A41 J5 NORTH WALES, Queensferry, Eastham A41
16.2 26.1 Entering Merseyside J6 Vauxhall (Cars Only), Eastham Oil Terminal
Vauxhall (Cars Only), Eastham Oil Terminal Entering Cheshire
17.5 28.2 Overpool, Whitby, North Road Industrial Estate B5132 J7 Overpool, Whitby, North Road Industrial Estate B5132
18.3 29.5 Netherpool and Rossmore Industrial Estates, Docks J8 Netherpool and Rossmore Industrial Estates, Docks
19.1 30.7 Ellesmere Port (Centre), Boat Museum A5032 J9 Ellesmere Port (Centre), Stanlow, Boat Museum A5032
20.9 33.7 Queensferry, Stanlow A5117 J10 Queensferry, Stanlow A5117
21.6 34.8 Runcorn, Liverpool Airport interchange, Warrington, (M6),

Manchester M56

 J11 Runcorn, Warrington, (M6), Manchester M56
24.5 39.5 Start of motorway J12 Chester A56
24.9 40.1 Chester, Helsby A56
Non-motorway traffic		 End of motorway
Road continues as A55 towards North Wales
Notes
  1. ^ 1: Signed as 'All Docks'.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Motorway Database: M53". CBRD. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  2. ↑ "The Mid-Wirral Motorway M53 and A55 Extension to the Welsh Border". The Motorway Archive. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "CBRD Motorway Database-M53 Exit List". crdb.co.uk. Chris Marshall. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 "M53. The Mid-Wirral Motorway". The Motorway Archive. The Motorway Archive Trust. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  5. 1 2 Marshall, Chris. "CBRD » Histories » The M53". CBRD. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "Written Answers to Questions". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 23 July 1993. col. 403.
  7. ↑ "The Motorway Archive – M53 Opening Dates". Institution of Highways and Transportation. Archived from the original on 18 August 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2006.
  8. ↑ "Traffic England Live Traffic Condition Map (selected Popups)". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

Route map:

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