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
Heysham to M6 Link Road Heysham to M6 Link Road The Heysham to M6 Link Road, known as the Bay Gateway, is a dual carriageway link road between the Heysham and Morecambe peninsula to Junction 34 of the M6 motorway in Lancashire, England. It was opened on 31 October 2016. In the process, Junction 34 was remodelled. The concept was published in the document "Road Plan for Lancashire", in 1948. The idea was revived in 1962 in the Lancashire Development Plan. The first phase, known as the Lancaster and Morecambe bypass, opened in 1994, leaving the Lune crossing and the motorway link unbuilt. Planning permission