PRESTON BY-PASS
On 5th December 1958, Preston, became the site of Britain's first motorway in the form of the Preston Bypass. It consisted of 8.26 miles from Broughton in the north to Bamber Bridge in the south. Predictably there was great trepidation and mixed views at the time about this 'monster' which was about to descend on the British public. Fears that cars, capable of reaching speeds up to 90naph, would be racing dangerously along the new road amid elderly vehicles with no indicators were voiced by the general public.
On the other hand, some people welcomed the idea out transferring heavy traffic from the long-suffering smaller roads and yearned for peace and tranquillity to return to their towns and village, However, it had been decided by the authorities prior to the opening that all heavy goods vehicles exceeding twelve feet in width would only be allowed on the motorway during alternate months in order that comparisons could be made.
It was, of course, a learning process and a new Motorway Code bad to be printed. What we now take for granted was a great mystery all those years ago.
A new police station opened at Samlesbury and the first Highway Patrolmen in the country - PC Ronald Liptrott and PC George Cave - were employed with a high-speed estate car equipped with everything needed in emergencies.
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In fact. the first motorway, casualty, a 22. year-old man. appeared in court on 8th December 1958, only three days after the official opening ceremony, when he was accused of stealing a car and crashing it through a fence and into a field at Bamber Bridge. He was subsequently jailed for three months and banned from driving for two years. Costs during the five years of planning fir the Preston Bypass escalated. The estimate was £2 million but the final cot rose to around £3,500,000. The original specification., were immense for that era and, to give you an idea of the scale involved, the following is a list of facts • Overall width off the bypass 112 feet The construction of the motorway, which took two years to build, was a major engineering feat and millions of tons of earth, filling material and pre-mixed water-bound macadam were used. Many lessons were learned for future projects. The opening ceremony was performed by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan who remarked during his speech 'In the years to come, the county and country alike may look at the Preston by-pass - a fine thing in itself but a finer thing as a symbol - as a token of what was to follow.' He went on to say, 'What Lancashire has today, other parts of the country will have tomorrow.' |
Source of info; Lancashire Life
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Copyright © 1996, Rob O'Gara : rmo@prestonian.co.uk : First issued 3rd
March 1996.