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
Motorways in the Republic of Ireland completed that would be affected by the Roads Act 2007 and motorway redesignation. In 2007 the same road was extended by some 10 km (6 miles) to join with the N52 north of Tullamore, still opened as N6 as the first tranche of motorway redesignations had only just been submitted. 2008 was one of the most important years for Irish motorways, with a large section of M8 opened, making it the longest motorway in the country. Stretching from Urlingford to just east of Mitchelstown, the motorway opened in various sections, the first being the Cashel bypass, which opened in 2004,