M53 motorway

M53 motorway
Route information
Length:	18.9 mi (30.4 km)
Existed:	1972 – present
History:	Constructed 1972–1982
Major junctions
North end:	Wallasey
	J11 → M56 motorway
South end:	Chester
Location
Primary destinations:	Liverpool, Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port, All Docks, North Wales, Wallasey
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

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

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 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. 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.

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. 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, 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.

Dates

• Junctions 1 to 5 were opened in 1972
• Junctions 5 to 8 were redesignated as motorway in 1974 as part of the M531
• 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 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	Road continues as A5139 towards Kingsway Tunnel and Liverpool	J1	Bidston, Wallasey A554 Non-motorway traffic
		Claughton, Wallasey A554		Start of motorway
6.5	10.5	West Kirby, Hoylake, Upton A5027	J2	West Kirby, Hoylake, Upton A5027
8.6	13.8	Tranmere, Heswall, Woodchurch, Prenton A552	J3	Tranmere, Heswall, Woodchurch, Prenton A552
11.7	18.8	Heswall A5137 Bebington, Port Sunlight B5137	J4	Heswall A5137 Bebington, Port Sunlight B5137
15.8	25.4	Eastham, Hooton A41 Queensferry (A550)	J5	Bebington, Eastham, Hooton A41 Queensferry (A550)
16.2	26.1	Eastham Oil Terminal B5132	J6	Eastham Oil Terminal B5132
17.5	28.2	Overpool, Vauxhall Motors B5132	J7	Overpool, Vauxhall Motors B5132
18.3	29.5	Overpool B5132 Industrial Estate A5032	J8	Industrial Estate A5032
19.1	30.7	Ellesmere Port A5032 Stanlow Refinery	J9	Ellesmere Port A5032
20.9	33.7	Elton, Whitbyheath, Cheshire Oaks A5117 Queensferry (A550)	J10	Elton, Whitbyheath, Cheshire Oaks A5117 Queensferry (A550)
21.6	34.8	Runcorn, Warrington, Manchester M56	J11	Runcorn, Warrington, Manchester M56
24.5	39.5	Start of motorway	J12	Chester A56
24.9	40.1	Chester, Helsby A56 Non-motorway traffic		Road continues as A55 to North Wales
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom
• Wirral Line
• A41 road

External links

• CBRD Motorway Database – M53
• CBRD History of the M53/M531
• Pathetic Motorways – M531
• The Motorway Archive – M53