M6 Junction 42: Golden Fleece – A6 Carlisle
Junction 42 of the M6, known as Golden Fleece, is where the M6 meets the A6, for Carlisle. The nearest city is Carlisle, about 3.5 miles to the north-west. Villages right beside the junction include Carleton, Cumwhinton and Wreay.
Roads that meet at or beside this junction: A6, A689, B6263. The main road at the junction is the A6.
From here, the drive north to junction 43 (Carlisle) is about 2.3 miles and the drive south to junction 41 (Wetheral) is about 12 miles. Junction 42 is about 199 miles from the start of the M6 at junction 1 and 12 miles from the end at junction 45.
- Junction M6 J42 · Golden Fleece
- Signed for A6 · Carlisle (south)
- Nearest town Carlisle, 3.5 miles north-west
- Map section Section 8: J40–J45, Penrith, Carlisle and Gretna
Live traffic at M6 junction 42
The speed strip below shows the M6 from junction 40 to junction 44, both directions, from National Highways’ live data, checked every five minutes.
Live traffic speed flow: M6 Junctions 40 to 44
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 42?
The Department for Transport counts traffic on the stretches either side of this junction. On the stretch it labels J42 to J43 it counted 51,683 vehicles a day in 2025, 18% of them lorries. See how busy the M6 is junction by junction.
| Stretch (DfT label) | All vehicles a day | Lorries | Miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| J42 to J43 | 51,683 | 9,376 (18.1%) | 2.7 |
© M6Traffic.co.uk · Statistics from the Department for Transport, 2025
Junctions either side
- J41Catterlen InterchangeA6 · Wetheral / Penrith (north)Nearest town: Penrith, 2.5 miles
- J43Rosehill RoundaboutA69 · Carlisle (east) / NewcastleNearest town: Carlisle, 2.0 miles
Live traffic news at M6 Junction 42
Incidents and roadworks between Junction 41 and Junction 43 that we are aware of.
M6 Southbound Jct 41 entry slip road Lane 1 closure
00:305 Oct 2026reported 17 min ago
- Location
- M6 northbound between J41 and J42
- Direction
- Northbound
- Lanes closed
- Slip road closed
- Reason
- Road improvement or upgrading
- Schedule
- 20:00 Sat 18 July 2026 → 06:00 Tue 31 Dec 2030
This is the news for Junction 42 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