Lancashire four universities: Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire, Edge Hill University and the Lancaster campus of the University of Cumbria. Seven colleges offer higher education courses. The Lancashire economy relies strongly on the M6 motorway which runs from north to south, past Lancaster and Preston. The M55 connects Preston to Blackpool and is 11.5 miles (18.3 km) long. The M65 motorway from Colne, connects Burnley, Accrington, Blackburn to Preston. The M61 from Preston via Chorley and the M66 starting inside the county boundary near Edenfield, provide links between Lancashire and Manchester] and the trans-Pennine M62. The M58 crosses the
Barton, Preston Barton, Preston Barton is a linear village and civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The parish had a population of 1,150, of whom 552 were male and 598 were female, according to the 2011 census. The village is about north of Preston. The parish is bound by the A6 road to the west. A bridge carries the A6 over the West Coast Main Line railway north of the village hall. The M6 motorway also passes through the parish, splitting the village, west of the motorway, from the rest of the parish. Barton is within the City of