If you are a regular motorist commuting in and around Manchester, there's a chance you've used this tiny motorway without realising it's a motorway.
Forming a small part of the easternmost section of Mancunian Way, the A635(M) didn't even appear on maps until recently. According to the SABRE Wiki site - an archive of British and Irish road networks - it consists of a single flyover.
The mini motorway is signed as part of the A57(M) and is officially the shortest motorway in England, measuring just 0.3 miles. However, it held the title of shortest motorway in the whole of the UK for nearly 25-years until an even shorter one was built in 2016.
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The shortest motorway in the UK title is now taken by the A8(M) at Baillieston in Scotland. Opened only seven years ago, it bizarrely consists of a single 0.2 mile bridge.
But back to the A635(M) in Manchester city centre. It was opened in 1992 with no signpost or appearance on any map. Due to its short length, it has the privilege of being included in the Pathetic Motorways website, among its list of current but curious motorways.
The actual existence of the motorway was only confirmed when those who maintain the site inspected a government document from 1995. Its number was unknown to the public until the official document proved its existence; the number is still unsigned but does now appear on modern maps.
A number of motorways in or around Manchester are also included on the Pathetic Motorways site, including the whole of the Mancunian Way itself. The A57(M) Mancunian Way, known as Manchester's 'Highway in the sky', forms the southern part of the Manchester and Salford Inner Ring Road.
The two-mile stretch was the first elevated motorway to be built outside London and was officially opened by Prime Minister Harold Wilson on May 5, 1967. It's been featured in films, paid tribute to in songs, and been the butt of internet jokes when a massive hole appeared in it.
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Part of the easternmost non-motorway section collapsed into a 40 ft sinkhole in 2015, after almost half a month's worth of rain fell in parts of Manchester in just six hours. Its closure caused significant congestion on the remaining part of Mancunian Way and other nearby roads and didn't fully reopen until the following year, after 10-months of repair work.
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Like it or loathe it - it's been part of Mancunian lives for five decades. But for what reason does it appear on the Pathetic Motorways site?
The tongue-in-cheek answer, according to the site, states: "This is possibly the lowest standard dual carriageway motorway in the UK. There are some at-grade junctions along some of its slip roads.
"There's no hard shoulder along any of its length. You can tell it was originally just plain A57, and the (M) bit got tacked on later."
Another reason it gives is for the Mancunian Way's "ridiculous" unfinished slip road (just before the junction with the A34) that was 20-feet up in the air and suddenly stops. And the site says even if the slip road had been finished, it would have gone the wrong way up a one-way-street.
However, much of this unfinished slip road was demolished in October 2018 as part of development next to the Mancunian Way.
What do you make of the A635(M)? Let us know in the comments.
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