A6144(M) motorway

The A6144(M) was a motorway in Carrington, Greater Manchester, England. It was known in official documentation as the Carrington Spur Road and built to facilitate the transport of hazardous goods from Shell Chemicals' ethylene oxide plant in Carrington and other industrial estates in Carrington and Broadheath. It was extremely unusual in that it was entirely single carriageway, the only motorway of its kind in the UK as others were dual carriageway for at least some of their length. About 1 mile (2 km) long, the road connected the A6144 road to the M60 at junction 8. It was the highest numbered A-road(M) motorway and one of only three four-digit, Axxxx(M) motorways, the others being the A6127(M) (now A167(M)) and the temporary A1077(M). The motorway was not a trunk road and not the responsibility of the Highways Agency. The road had no hard shoulder but two emergency lay-bys with SOS phones and lights were provided midway along its length. A reason for its motorway status was that the junction with the M60 had two small roundabouts that were difficult for a driver of a long vehicle prohibited from motorways to perform a U-turn because of their size. The unusual status of the A6144(M) led to it gaining a number of fans, particularly within organisations such as the Society for All British And Irish Road Enthusiasts (SABRE).