The New M55 Motorway Junction 2... 48 Years late but WHY!? 

I visited Preston once, and I can definitely say it's one of the places I've been to.

Who wants to bet they eventually put a Premier Inn with an attached pub at that services in the next 5 years on the foundations of the old pub

I was chuffed when this road opened. I even went to drive on it the day it went open, not for the fact it is finally open, but that it is probably the only road that isn't peppered with potholes in Preston (yet). It was like being transported to the Netherlands for about 3 miles of road.

What a treat, 2 episodes in a week!

Those new estates will love their new Starbucks and petrol station. Pubs are so old anyway, much better to sip a Frappuccino bought on one's drive from work to the new house on the new estate and watch the telly alone, while vaping and TikToking with one's friends. 🙃

2:15 I guarantee they spoke to someone in marketing who thought it would be funny if they could get away with "Preston Western" and somehow pulled it off.

I use the M55 when visiting my parents, and last week it was a pleasant surprise to find I didn't get stuck in traffic going through roadworks...on that road, at least.

_"Artist impression"_ had me in stitches 😂 😂 😂 😂

Enjoying the new Peaky Blinders look in this mid-week update, John!

The junction opened up a day early as there was a crash on the M6 and they used it to turn the cars around that were stuck on the M55.

We've been waiting 80-100 years for them to reroute the A368 around Banwell to meet the A371 to the West of the village. It's a castle road with a 90' T intersection that blocks any sight Left and Right and the West section is narrow for about 300 yards causing HGV's to get stuck. They never even installed traffic lights to manage it.

All I can say is, it’s about bloody time! Ever since the M6 was built, Preston has managed to use it as an excuse not to build proper through roads, so when the M6 is inevitably closed due to an accident, Preston turns into carnage. Pun intended. It’ll be nice to have a decent route past that bit next time it happens

Point to add you can take a narrowboat under both bridges because the Ribble Link joins the Lancaster canal to the rest of the canal network via Savick Brook.

Soooooo close to that 100K now. Been great watching the channel grow, and diversify a bit for more topics. Here's to many many more subscribers and videos.

"I digress..." Nooooo! please keep digressing, even if the video ends up 40 minutes long just filled with random trivia I'm still watching it

Love the Confetti SFX - production budget mania🎉

It’s nice the connection to the A583 is finished as it played havoc with the buses.

Nice mid-week treat. Was roaring with laughter. Like the new titfer, works well with the clean shirt. Rail v Canal = British Social and Economic History revision for me - one of my O Levels.

I live in Australia, and even I find these videos fascinating. Go figure!!

There is talk agin of linking up the M55 and M58/M57 via a new bridge over the river Ribble. The original plan was shelved in the 1970’s when Sefton was created. This moved Southport out of Lancashire and led the Lancs and Merseyside/Sefton arguing about costs etc. But it appears some joined up thinking is going on and there is hope the councils can agree of a cost so,it for the road as, there is also a plan to reopen the Burroughs curves in the rail line from Southport to Manchester and the curves reopening, shut by Beeching, then Merseyrail could run trains from Southport to Preston and Ormskirk using their very clever battery/electric trains. This all seems to stem from the fact Lancashire is supporting having an elected mayor and devolution, very similar to Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester. This would fill the missing link in Northern Powerhouse. I am guessing here but, with the go ahead given to build Eden Project North at Morecambe which if like as popular as the Cornwall version, tourism will explode and linking the coastline from Morecambe to Liverpool including Southport by rail and road would be very good for everyone.

Brilliant video, love your humor and presenting style. Looking forward to the next video.

They put a mobile speed camera on there straight away to 🤣. It's a great though you can actually skip all the average speed cameras on the A583 now as this is now quicker to get to Blackpool if you're coming from south of Preston.

I live at the west side of Preston. It is fantastic. Taken so much traffic out of the ring road. Just need the Ribble bridge to be somehow authorised and paid for

Good research as usual, Jon. Those last few hundred subscribers are sure to arrive soon 🤣

Peaky Shenanigans...

4:57 Uncannily accurate depiction of Preston there Jon 😂

Nice touch finishing on the Wurlitzer Organ. I was hoping for "With my little stick of Blackpool rock" 😂

Loving the Peaky Blinders look Jon 😂

I dunno why i watch your videos, i have little interest in motorways and rarely drive on them. but yet i still watch every video you upload

Jon, your level of research and dedication is extremely sexy. No joke, no weirdness. Just true.

Fascinating stuff, as always! Like the Hat👌!!

Nice one. On my patch. Can't believe all the green fields we're now gonna lose as a result though 🙄

"Ribble", for some reason i find the sound of this town pleasing.

Very interesting, when I saw the link road being built I did wonder if it would go all the way over the river to the A59. Thanks for clearing that up!

In around 2013 Thinford roundabout in Spennymoor, Durham was substantially upgraded to have multiple lanes and traffic lights, to account for increased traffic from the nearby Durham Gate office development and a housing estate behind it. A pub Thinford inn closed down, was set on fire, later demolished and turned into a costa drive through and dominos takeaway DESPITE the planning committee recommending the application to be thrown out. Why is it every pub on or near a major roundabout plan gets demolished or is ran out of business

Really fascinating. Oooh! just 1200 subscribers needed for that magical 100k & play button. I look forward to your mega celebration video :)

I drove down the M55 recently going to Blackpool, cannot remember seeing Junction 2 😂😂 A excellent video as always.

Yet another awesome video.

I’ve said it before, you should definitely do a series on canals.

Wait arent those lovely green fields there .oo lets build some house on them .i like preston .great railway station .people very friendly x

This is the best video I've ever seen about anything

Isn't it amazing the build bridges over flood plains but here in Warwick the build house on flood plains. Apparently its ok because they built a ditch at the side of it 😅. Who is going to look after said ditch in years to come 🤔

Basically they have created a link road on two roads that already link to Preston, only now you have to drive an additional 12 miles to go to Preston using roads that already go to Preston! Can you do one on the new link road off Garstang road going to Fleetwood, as that also makes no f*cking sense, but has made the traffic a nightmare for the last 3 years.

Cheers (your name is ) John, these videos just keep on getting better; presentation, production, details, diagrams and maps all on the up. One thousand 300 to go mate but when you get there you'll want half a million.🙂

the proposed motorway box around Preston was also related to the Central Lancashire New Town that was once planned in the area between Preston and Blackburn; you can tell it didn't get far because it didn't even get a proper name

when i get to that part where the junctionw as missing i just drove off the road and across the fields -burger40

You're getting really close to your goal of 100k subscribers! Can't wait to see what video you're going to make to celebrate 😊

Just spotted the backdrop looks just like the laminate flooring in my daughters room, and now I cannot get out of my head that you're presenting lying down with a camera dangling over you.

I love me a good weekday upload!

I never knew about the M59 as they say every day is a school day. The saddle in ln was a wonderful pub in its day fantastic video

This vid should be shown to every incoming Transport Minister

Great job they pressed on with that road building

My whole life I've been waiting for them to bridge the Ribble. When this new road was announced I was convinced they would finally do so (making this new bypass actually useful). Glad to hear that missing M-Way has a name: M59

Very enjoyable as always 👍

I live in Preston and I can say this helps

Love the mapmen inspired set

Every Friday two junctions before the M55 31, and 31A are a huge car park on four lanes it is the same almost every morning just sheer gridlock. our house backs onto the motorway and we have3 to smile looking at all the traffic at a standstill. If your ever visiting Blackpool don't go on Friday after about 11 am unless you wish to sit for half an hour or so on the M6..

Glad I moved away from Preston. But I'm loving the hat John. Great video again. Looking forward to Sunday's upload

Missed you waving goodbye at the end Jon,🙂

OK I surrender. The road map that is on the wall behind you....where is that of please? Another great video John, just love the little digs/funnies your videos contain.

Love this channel so much

looks like there gonna need that extra infrastructure john with the amount of homes that will be built it's good to see they built it before the houses went up,unlike a lot of places that have had the homes built without the extra infrastructure.

The day before this junction opened there was an incident on the M6 just south of J32, it caused chaos. My mate was in the queue on the M55 and the workers on the junction refused to let people use it to turn around saying it "hadn't been weight tested yet"... as they drove their 5 ton van over it. 6 hours he was stuck.

The 35mile Waverley Railway Line from Edinburgh was started in 2013, finished in 2015 and cost £353 million including land purchase, 9 stations and 200 bridges for terrain, road and river crossings......call it £10 million a mile. How the hell can less than 3 miles of road cost around £80 million a mile?

I live on one of the new estates and I know I am now old as it is genuinely exciting news. It has shaved 3 mins of my drive time to the motorway. Happy days. Well worth 300m

Been on that junction today 🤘🏻

Great video covering my local motorway. One thing you missed was all the beef about the speed limit. Up until the day before it opened, it was listed as 70mph (National Speed limit) only to open plastered with 50mph signs. Apparently they decided 50mph was safer but forgot to update the information.

It was my understanding that the plan was to extend the then planned M65 'Trans-Pennine' motorway to the south and west of Preston connecting to the then new M55 at Junction two. The motorway to Liverpool I can't say I've ever heard about. Still better late than never. Getting to any of the 4 junctions serving Preston was an absolute nightmare and at times the M6 was closed getting anywhere in a car in Preston was near impossible. .I've not used the new link yet, but I've pottered up and down the M55 many times during it's construction. It is needed and the cross river link is the holy grail to finally free much of the west of Preston from near-gridlocked traffic at peak times. And they've done a sterling job. Much better than the paint-by-numbers botch-it job currently ongoing on the A585 bypass some 10 miles distant. After three years they've just about managed to remove a roundabout and put temporary traffic lights in. It was supposed to open this summer, but there's still a whole junction missing on the A586. God knows when it will be ready.

Ngl sad to see that the saddle Inn is gone I remember doing parking practice there before my driving test a couple years back Side note: I was driving up the M55 yesterday and saw the traffic management guys picking up the cones

So, first they electrify the railway line, then they build a new arterial road and motorway junction. What enlightened foresighted public authority is this that builds the infrastructure *before* it builds the new houses? 😍

Only 48 years late. This must be a new speed record for the UK.

Very interesting.

Mega research into that one John 😎👍

Drove along it today. It’s a nice quiet drive

Boy you were quick with this. It's only been open a week oh so.

This ain't far from me, been meaning to give it a drive

Awesome Video

Excellent video.

You should try and blag access to a motorway control centre and/or a ride along in a highways agency car.

Nice. I should drive past it in just over a week so it is something I will pay a little more attention to then 'just another junction'.

A new bridge over the Ribble to link to the A59 which has a newly opened road network to the M6 / M61 junction, many sections of this route is dual.

I live in South-western Preston and work in north Preston, so the road is useful for at least one person 😎 Ps. The roundabouts that come on and off the motorway are ridiculously tight, feel like they were designed in the 1920s rather than 2020s.

With these special effects you are truly spoiling us John. 😂

I live in Blackpool and have done for years but never realised there wasn't a Junction 2. However, while I was taxiing last year, I missed Junction 1 and had to go a long way to come back with my customer. Of course I didn't charge her for the mistake.

awesome video

One issue with the canal is it never crossed the Ribble. They used a wooden trestle bridge and then go from Preston to the m65 via a tramway

Loving the Peaky Blinders Hat mate

I remember years ago I was a courier and I had a delivery to the Priory hospital near Preston. Sat nav put me off the M6, on to the 55, then after a few miles it was telling me to turn off into a field. This was that “ghost junction”. Spooky hey !!! I got a bollocking for smashing through a fence and driving over a corn crop, but just like Santa, I got the goods delivered 📦 👍🏼

I like ur channel mate and i like ur content good stuff

Let’s guess if the associated infrastructure and services will be built along with these new housing estates, ie schools and hospitals…

The A582 is missing it’s last section that should be phase 2 and the A582 to cross over the River Ribble. If only the M59 motorway was to extend to meet up with the M55 just west of Preston that would make it lot easier to get from Liverpool to Preston and to Blackpool much quicker. Nice to see the new road that would allow traffic to avoid Preston and surrounding areas that are so congested. Also more new roads are also to be built with more new homes and new places to explore.

I went to uni in Preston. I left there whelmed.

"It's the same old Auto Shenanigans" "But he's got a new hat!"

I was wholly distracted by the whopping great farmer's hat. Indoors.

Mr Shenaginans, does a docu about the M55 while wearing a flat cap, got any blackpudding mate ;)

From what it looks like, A nice quiet drive of a road.

Best so far by far

I wish they gone with their original plan giving us the m59 and more of the m65

Thanks

Another banger mate, keep up the good work. At one point I was considering moving to Preston. The horror!