Wigan Album

I watched them build the viaduct and the motorway.
On the left of the photo you can see an old bus where people used to live, they had some more further up towards the Navi pub.

Ron, the construction of Gathurst Viaduct started on 7th September 1959 and was completed 31st March 1962. It was opened to the public use on 29th July 1963.

I’m sure everyone will agree here when I say that when that viaduct and the motorway were constructed some 60-70 years ago, none of the planners and engineers had any idea of how much traffic volume would increase all these years later. All our motorways in the UK suffer from regular congestion these days and my father who is now in his 70s avoids using them because he doesn’t feel comfortable driving on them anymore.

I remember being taken to Orrell Mount bridge see the new motorway on the day it opened.