197O. M60 Motorway, Brinnington, Stockport, Greater Manchester Still extant on this section of the M60 in January 2025 are a number of 10 and 12 m sheet steel columns supporting Philips MA 50 and 60 lanterns, for 135 and 180 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamps respectively - once, these lanterns ruled supreme on all major traffic routes, but in the present era, their numbers are drastically reduced, owing to replacements with high pressure sodium (SON) lanterns initially, followed by light-emitting diode (LED) sources later. An especially notable section of the MA60...sorry, M60, is the part below Lingard Lane in Bredbury, as the double-arm columns here are positioned adjacent a wide piece of unused land on one side, and a single-lane (but still, oddly wide) slip road leading onto the M60 from the Bredbury Interchange roundabout on the other. The reason for this peculiar arrangement is that the vacant land was to be the northern extremity of the proposed A6 (M) Motorway. Ultimately, the motorway was never built at this location, but the lighting infrastructure was future-proofed in case anything ever changed. While the proposal is shelved indefinitely, there is always the chance that it could be resurrected one day, although any new construction here would likely see all of this lighting replaced - the columns are from the late 1980s / early 1990s, meaning that they have probably exceeded their design life by now. Even if they were retained, the MA lanterns would definitely be replaced, given the obsolescence of SOX lamps, and the fact that very few of the lanterns remain in working condition.
These images are taken from the bridge over the M60 at Lingard Lane. The Hope Valley railway line crosses diagonally to the north of the bridge.
The thin covering of ice to the left-hand MA 60's canopy suggests that this is one of the lanterns that is no longer operational.
Unsurprisingly, the right-hand lantern, overlooking the disused land, doesn't work either.
Looking the other way, the other lanterns that face the never-built motorway, along with those further back that illuminate the stub slip road, give an idea of what might have been, had the construction gone ahead.
The lanterns may have limited use to road users, but provide sterling perches for weary feathered commuters!
None of the lanterns feature individual photocells; they must be group-controlled from a master switching point.
The dedicated MA 50s lighting the slip road are visible to the right of the carriageway; unusually, traffic joins the M60 on the right-hand side (i.e. the fast lane).
This video discusses the SOX lighting along the M60, including the section seen above.
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