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
M55 motorway from nearby Warton Aerodrome made a test landing on the motorway, in order to prove its capability to use makeshift runways in time of war. Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. M55 motorway The M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England, which can also be referred to as the "Preston Northern Bypass". It connects the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 at Preston. It is 12.2 miles (19.6 km) in length. The M55 has three lanes in both directions for most of its length. After leaving the M6 at junction 32,