 It also acts as a major access route to Chester/North Wales to the west & to Manchester to the east for the conurbation of towns and villages around the Dane Valley centering on Winsford and Northwich, the central part which forms the Northwich Bypass Between Davenham and Lostock Gralam suffers because of the sheer amount of commuter traffic from this area.The part of the route between the M6 motorway junction 19 and the M56 motorway junction 7 is a major route into Manchester and has been recently upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway.The road is frequently very congested, carrying approximately 70,000 vehicles per day in 2018 and has a high accident record; between 1998 and 2005, there were around 200 accidents, resulting in 5 fatalities and 39 people being seriously injured.