M6 Junction 30: Blacow Bridge – M61 Bamber Bridge
Junction 30 of the M6, known as Blacow Bridge, is where the M6 meets the M61, for Bamber Bridge. The nearest city is Preston, about 2.5 miles to the north-west, with Penwortham (3 miles west) and Leyland (4 miles south-west) also close by. Villages right beside the junction include Higher Walton, Bamber Bridge and Walton-le-Dale.
Roads that meet at or beside this junction: M61, A675, B5257, B6230, B6258. The main road at the junction is the M61.
The M61 runs south-east from here to Bolton and Manchester.
From here, the drive north to junction 31 (Samlesbury) is about 1.6 miles and the drive south to junction 29 (Bamber Bridge) is about 1.3 miles. Junction 30 is about 117 miles from the start of the M6 at junction 1 and 93 miles from the end at junction 45.
- Junction M6 J30 · Blacow Bridge
- Signed for M61 · Bamber Bridge (M61 to Bolton & Manchester)
- Nearest town Preston, 2.5 miles north-west
- Map section Section 5: J21A–J32, Wigan to Preston
We also have a page on M6 Junctions 30 to 31: Preston, with the traffic counts and news for that stretch.
Live traffic at M6 junction 30
The speed strip below shows the M6 from junction 28 to junction 31A, both directions, from National Highways’ live data, checked every five minutes.
Live traffic speed flow: M6 Junctions 28 to 31A
Untick all three to see just the speeds. We show the important overhead signs and the mandatory speed limits (red ring); see every overhead sign.
Go to our live M6 traffic speed flow map ›
How busy is the M6 at junction 30?
The Department for Transport counts traffic on the stretches either side of this junction. On the stretch it labels J30 to J31 it counted 171,079 vehicles a day in 2025, 8% of them lorries. On the stretch it labels J29A to J30 it counted 86,780 vehicles a day in 2025, 11% of them lorries. See how busy the M6 is junction by junction.
| Stretch (DfT label) | All vehicles a day | Lorries | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| J30 to J31 | 171,079 | 14,168 (8.3%) | 2.1 |
| J29A to J30 | 86,780 | 9,169 (10.6%) | 1.4 |
© M6Traffic.co.uk · Statistics from the Department for Transport, 2025
Junctions either side
- J29Bamber Bridge InterchangeA6 / M65 · Bamber Bridge / BlackburnNearest town: Leyland, 2.4 miles
- J31Samlesbury InterchangeA59 · Samlesbury / PrestonNearest town: Preston, 2.6 miles
Live traffic news at M6 Junction 30
Incidents and roadworks between Junction 29 and Junction 31 that we are aware of.
M6 Southbound Junction 33 to 31A Lane 3 closure (357/7B to 354/7B)
00:305 Oct 2026reported 17 min ago
- Location
- M6 southbound between J32 and J31A
- Direction
- Southbound
- Lanes closed
- Lane closures
- Reason
- Roadworks
- Schedule
- 20:00 Sun 4 Oct 2026 → 06:00 Mon 5 Oct 2026
Forecast - not confirmed
+ 2 more near Junction 30 - see all the M6 traffic news →
This is the news for Junction 30 only, not the whole M6. For the rest of the motorway see all the latest M6 traffic news, the overhead signs and the speed limits in force now.
Updated 00:47 Mon 5 Oct 2026