stilover

Right.

Next Wednesday I have to travel to Holywell in North Wales, from Darlington next Wednesday.

I'm going to go to Tebay then travel down the M6.

Question 1)
Morning rush hour, what is the M6 like between 8am & 11am from Preston down to Junction 20 (M56 turn off). How long would you say it would take to travel that distance?

Question 2)
Similarly, how long do you think it take to get from Junction 20 (M6) to Holywell?

Advise much appreciated.

Reason being. I'm supposed to be traveling down with a couple colleagues, and they want to set of from Darlington at 6am to get there for 11am. A whole bl00dy 5 hours)
I'm of the opinion that it's take 3.5 hours Max.
What do you reckon?

Might have to take the Scoob and pay my own Petrol, as I can't risk sitting in the back of a car for up to 10 hours in 1 day. I'll be as sick as a dog.
Driver and other passenger are of the opinion that if you drive for work in work time you don't speed. So 70mph all the way This includes on the way home too.

Brendan Hughes

ViaMichelin: street map, maps, map UK, route finder, route planner, directions, road map, route map gives all the times between turnings, presumably calculated within legal speed limits, but I don't think it will help with the rush-hour thing.

stilover

Yeah, I know the route, and time it "should" take. 2hours 44min.

But I don't know what the M6 is like on a morning. That's what I really want to know, so I can Guestimate journey times. And also the M56.

Are these 2 roads a nightmare on a morning (is traffic at a near standstill) or are they not too bad?

Steve vRS

The M56 heading West should be OK - it gets busy heading east from the M6 towards Manchester.

The M6 however, can be a nightmare south of Preston, especially around the M62 interchange. I've seen queues there stretching back a couple of junctions, just for people leaving and joining the M6.

Once off the M56, towards Hollywell, the traffic should be OK.

Steve

stilover

Cheers Steve.

SVXNUT

Right, the first point is, the M6 will run fairly clear unless there is a problem at Thelwall, which you will have to cross. Another point is there are major roadworks on the A556 so more people are using the M56 at the moment.
Also are you going to Hollywell or Hollyhead. If you are going to Hollyhead the *** contraflow is adding 1 1/2 hrs at the moment.

I also had some probs with the Rworks at Lancaster the other Day Jct33 on the M6.

scoobyster

The end of the M56 and Queensferry bypass (round the north west of Chester) have long-term roadworks, single lanes, a 40 limit and gatsos. In my experience the traffic doesn't get too badly backed up but it does slow you down a bit. You should be okay if you're aiming to arrive in Holywell at 11 as the rush hour traffic will be gone, but you might want to consider going south on the M53 and meeting the *** to the south of Chester, as that should be smoother running (unless there are issues there too, I haven't done it in a few weeks). I would allow 45-60 minutes from the M6.