M56 motorway

M56
North Cheshire Motorway
Shown in North West England Show map of North West England Shown with the UK motorway network Show UK motorways map
Looking east from Junction 14
Route information
Part of E22
Maintained by National Highways
Length	33.3 mi (53.6 km)
Existed	1971–present
History	Opened: 1971 Completed: 1981
Major junctions
East end	Cheadle
Major intersections	J1 → M60 motorway J9 → M6 motorway J15 → M53 motorway
West end	Mollington
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Counties	Greater Manchester, Cheshire
Primary destinations	Manchester Manchester Airport Warrington Runcorn Ellesmere Port
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← M55 → M57

The M56 motorway serves the Cheshire and Greater Manchester areas of England. It runs east to west from junction 4 of the M60 at Gatley, south of Manchester, to Dunkirk, approximately four miles (six kilometres) north of Chester. With a length of 33.3 miles (53.6 km), it connects North Wales and the Wirral peninsula with much of the rest of North West England, serves business and commuter traffic heading towards Manchester, particularly that from the wider Cheshire area, and provides the main road access to Manchester Airport from the national motorway network.^[1]

Between junctions 9 and 16, the motorway forms part of the unsigned European route E22 on its route in the UK between Holyhead in Anglesey and Immingham in Lincolnshire.