M1 motorway
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| M1 motorway | |
| Image:UK motorway M1.PNG | |
| Length | 190.8 miles (307.1 km) |
| Direction | South - North |
| Start | London (A406) |
| Primary destinations | Luton Northampton Leicester Nottingham Derby Sheffield Wakefield Leeds. |
| End | Hook Moor (A1(M)) |
| Construction dates | 1959 - 1999 |
| Motorways joined | 6A - Image:UK motorway M25.PNG M25 motorway 7 - Image:UK motorway M10.PNG M10 motorway 17 - Image:UK motorway M45.PNG M45 motorway 19 - Image:UK motorway M6.PNG M6 motorway 21 - Image:UK motorway M69.PNG M69 motorway 32 - Image:UK motorway M18.PNG M18 motorway 42 - Image:UK motorway M62.PNG M62 motorway 43 - Image:UK motorway M621.PNG M621 motorway 48 - Image:UK motorway A1(M).PNG A1(M) motorway |
| Euroroute(s) | |
- This article concerns the M1 motorway in England. For other M1 motorways, see M1 motorway (disambiguation).
The M1 is a major north-south motorway in England connecting London to Yorkshire, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom[1], the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6[2].
The motorway is 193 miles (310 km) long and was constructed in four phases; the majority of the motorway was opened in 1959 and between 1965 and 1968. The two ends of the motorway were extended later; the southern end in 1977 and the northern end in 1999.
It forms part of the unsigned European route E13.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] First Section, 1959
The first section of the motorway opened between junction 5 (Watford) and junction 18 (Crick/Rugby) on November 2, 1959 together with the motorway's two spurs, the M10 (from junction 7 to south of St Albans originally connecting to the A1) and the M45 (from junction 17 to the A45 and Coventry).
The M1 was officially inaugurated from Slip End, this is celebrated by a large concrete slab [3] on the bridge next to the village with inscription "London-Yorkshire Motorway, This slab was sealed by the Rt Hon Harold Watkinson M.P. Minister of transport inauguration day, 24th March 1958".
This section of the M1 broadly follows the route of the A5 north-west. It started at the Watford Bypass (A41), which runs south-east to meet the A1 at Apex corner, and ended on the A5 at Crick. The M10 spur motorway connected the M1 to the North Orbital Road (A405/A414, a precursor of the M25) where it also meet the A5 (now renumbered here as the A5183) and, two miles to the east via the A414, to the A6 (also renumbered as the A1081).
Although the whole of first section opened in 1959 it was built in two parts with the northern part (junctions 10 to 18) being built by John Laing[1] and the southern part (the St Albans Bypass) being built by Tarmac Construction[4].
There has never been a Junction 3 between Junctions 2 and 4. There were initially plans for a Junction 3 to be completed, but these have never materialised.
[edit] Rugby to Leeds, 1965 to 1968
The continuation of the motorway from junction 18 towards Yorkshire was carried out as a series of extensions between 1965 and 1968. Diverging from the A5, the motorway takes a more northerly route through the East Midlands, via Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham to Sheffield where the M18 splits from the M1 at junction 32 to head to Doncaster.
Originally, the M1 was planned to end at Doncaster; however, it was decided to make what was going to be the "Leeds and Sheffield Spur", the primary route with the 11 mile section to the A1(M) south of Doncaster given a separate motorway number.
From junction 32, the motorway passes between Sheffield and Rotherham, towards Barnsley then heads towards Wakefield and reaches the original end of the motorway at junction 44 to the east of Leeds. There were plans to route the M1 from just south of junction 42 where it interchanges with the M62, round the west of Leeds to the A1 at Dishforth; however the existing route to the east of Leeds was selected. With the M62 and M621, the M1 forms a ring of motorways around Leeds.
[edit] Leeds South Eastern Urban Motorway, 1972
In 1972 an extension of the M1 was opened into central Leeds as the Leeds South Eastern Motorway where it met the Leeds South Western Motorway (M621) coming north-east from the M62 at junction 3.
[edit] Leeds to Hook Moor, 1999
Between 1996 and 1999 the M1 section north of the M62 underwent a major reconstruction and extension to take the M1 on a new route to the A1(M) at Aberford. The new road involved the construction of a series of new junctions, bridges and viaducts to the east of Leeds. When the new section of M1 was completed and opened in 1999, the Leeds South Eastern Motorway section of the M1 was redesignated as the M621 and the junctions were given new numbers (M621 junctions 4 to 7).
[edit] London extensions, 1966, 1967 and 1977
The M1 was extended south from its original starting point at junction 5 towards London in three stages. The first stage, opened in 1966, took the motorway south-east, parallel to the A41 to meet the A5 at junction 4 south of Elstree. The second phase continued east to Scratchwood (where the London Gateway Service Area occupies the location of the missing junction 3 from where an unbuilt spur would have connected to the A1 at Stirling Corner), then south to run alongside the Midland Main Line towards Hendon where it meets the A1 again at junction 2 via a tightly curved flyover section. These flyovers connecting from the A1 were originally both for northbound traffic; the left one as the onramp to the M1, the right one going over the A1/A41 junction beneath to rejoin the A1 northbound.
The current junction 2 is about 650 yds (600 m) south of the original junction. Southbound traffic originally left the motorway via a slip road which passed under the A41/A1 Mill Hill Bypass and looped round to join it at Fiveways Interchange. This slip road is still in place and maintained, though not accessible to traffic. The northbound slip road from the A1 is now partially used as the entrance way to a business park but no longer reaches the northbound carriageway as it is cut off by the motorway continuing south.
The final section of the M1 was opened to junction 1 at Staples Corner in 1977. There the motorway meets the North Circular Road (A406) at a grade separated junction and roundabout. Plans made in the 1960s would have seen the motorway continue through the junction on an elevated roadway to end at West Hampstead where it would have met the North Cross Route, the northern section of the London Motorway Box, a proposed ring of urban motorway around the central area. The layout of the Staples Corner junction was originally built in accordance with these plans although most of the London Ringways Plan had been cancelled by 1973.
[edit] Roadworks
Roadworks are currently taking place to increase lane amount between junctons 6a and 10. Traffic speed has been limited to 50mph around roadworks, and the date of completion is currently estimated to be December 2008.
[edit] Trivia
| Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
The first motorway service station in the UK was built at Watford Gap and later immortalised in song by Roy Harper and, satirically, by Dillie Keane of Fascinating Aida.
Some consider Watford Gap (a narrow traffic corridor containing the M1 and one of the main London to Birmingham railway lines side by side, plus a well-known motorway service station) to be the border between southern and northern England.
The M1 featured in the first episode of Thunderbirds. The Hood was making his getaway down the M1 after photographing Thunderbird 2, only to be stopped by a well placed shot from Parker using the gun inside the grill of Lady Penelope's pink Rolls Royce.
The highest point on the M1, if you are travelling north, is just after Junction 22.
A section of the M1 near Milton Keynes was temporarily closed by a rolling police roadblock to allow for filming of the movie 28 Days Later.
The M1 was described by television presenter Garry Bushell as the world's best road.[citation needed]
British Midland Flight 092 crashed on the motorway near East Midlands Airport on 8 January 1989 when landing on emergency in East Midlands Airport due to the engine failure. The section of motorway in this area was closed for several days afterwards.
The motorway was closed for a few days near between Junction 32 and Junction 36 because Rotherham's Ulley Reservoir adjacent to Junction 33 was damaged during the Summer Floods of 2007.
The M1 featured in the movie Withnail and I. In the 1960s, Withnail drives a worn-out Jaguar S-Type down the M1 while drunk, but is eventually pulled over and arrested by the police. It was in fact filmed on a recently completed final stretch of the M25 motorway between junctions 19 and 23 prior to its opening in 1986.
[edit] Junctions
| M1 Motorway | ||
| Southbound exits | Junction | Northbound exits |
| A406: North Circular, Brent Cross | J1 | Start of Motorway |
| A1: The City | J2 | No Access |
| London Gateway services | ||
| A41: Edgware | J4 | No Access |
| A41: Harrow A4008: Watford | J5 | A41: Aylesbury, Watford |
| A405: North Watford | J6 | A405: St Albans, Heathrow Airport, Harlow |
| M25: Harlow, Dartford Tunnel, Heathrow Airport | J6a | No Access |
| M10: St Albans, Hatfield | J7 | No Access |
| A414: Hemel Hempstead | J8 | A414: Hemel Hempstead |
| A5: Whipsnade | J9 | A5: Whipsnade |
| A1081: Luton Airport | J10 | A1081: Luton Airport |
| A505: Luton, Dunstable | J11 | A505: Luton, Dunstable |
| Toddington services | ||
| A5120: Flitwick, Houghton Regis | J12 | A5120: Flitwick, Woburn |
| A421: Bedford A507:Woburn, Ampthill | J13 | A421: Milton Keynes, Bedford A507: Ampthill |
| A509: Milton Keynes, Newport Pagnell | J14 | A509: Milton Keynes, Newport Pagnell |
| Newport Pagnell services | ||
| A45: Northampton A508 Milton Keynes | J15 | A45: Northampton A508 Milton Keynes |
| A43: Northampton, Oxford | J15a Northampton services | A43: Northampton, Oxford |
| A45: Northampton | J16 | A45: Daventry |
| Watford Gap services | ||
| No Access | J17 | M45: Coventry |
| A428: Daventry, DIRFT | J18 | DIRFT, A5: Hinckley A428: Rugby |
| A14:Felixstowe, Corby, Kettering M6: The NORTH WEST | J19 | M6: The NORTH WEST |
| A4303: Lutterworth, Rugby | J20 | A4303: Lutterworth A4304: Market Harborough |
| M69: Coventry, Birmingham A5460: Leicester | J21 | M69: Coventry A5460: Leicester |
| Leicester Forest East services | ||
| No Access | J21A | A46: Leicester, Newark |
| A50: Leicester A511: Coalville Markfield services | J22 | A511: Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch Markfield services |
| A512: Loughborough, Ashby-de-la-Zouch | J23 | A512: Loughborough |
| A42(M42): The SOUTH WEST, Tamworth, Birmingham, Ashby-de-la-Zouch | J23a | A453: East Midlands Airport Donington Park services A42(M42): The SOUTH WEST, Tamworth, Birmingham |
| A6: Loughborough A453: East Midlands Airport Donington Park services | J24 | A50: Stoke A6: Derby A453: Nottingham South/Centre |
| A50: Stoke A6: Derby | J24a | No Access |
| A52: Nottingham South, Derby | J25 | A52: Derby, Nottingham West/Centre |
| Trowell Motorway Services | ||
| A610: Nottingham, Ilkeston | J26 | A610: Ripley, Nottingham North/Centre |
| A608: Heanor, Hucknall | J27 | A608: Mansfield |
| A38: Matlock | J28 | A38: Mansfield, Matlock |
| Tibshelf services | ||
| A617: Mansfield, Matlock | J29 | A617: Chesterfield |
| Under construction A632: Chesterfield / Bolsover | J29a | Under construction A632: Chesterfield / Bolsover |
| A616: Chesterfield, Newark | J30 | A6135: Sheffield, Worksop |
| Woodall services | ||
| A57: Worksop | J31 | A57: Worksop |
| M18: The NORTH, Doncaster, Hull | J32 | M18: The North, Doncaster, Hull |
| A630: Sheffield, Rotherham, Robin Hood Airport | J33 | A640: Sheffield, Rotherham, Robin Hood Airport |
| A6109: Meadowhall, Rotherham | J34 | A6178: Meadowhall, Rotherham, Robin Hood Airport |
| A629: Rotherham | J35 | A629: Rotherham |
| No Access | J35a | A616: Manchester |
| A61: Sheffield | J36 | A61: Barnsley |
| A628: Barnsley, Manchester | J37 | A628: Barnsley, Manchester |
| A637: Huddersfield, Barnsley | J38 | A637: Huddersfield, Barnsley |
| Woolley Edge services | ||
| A636: Denby Dale | J39 | A636: Denby Dale |
| A638: Wakefield, Dewsbury | J40 | A638: Dewsbury, Batley, Wakefield |
| A650: Wakefield, Morley | J41 | A650: Wakefield, Morley |
| M62: Hull, Manchester | J42 | M62: Manchester, Bradford, Hull |
| No Access | J43 | M621: Leeds |
| A639: Leeds | J44 | A639: Leeds |
| Under construction A63: Leeds | J45 | Under construction A63: Leeds |
| A6120: Leeds | J46 | A6120: Leeds A63: Selby |
| A656: Castleford A642: Garforth | J47 | A642: Garforth The South (A1) |
| Start of Motorway | A1(M), J43 | A1(M): The NORTH, Wetherby |
[edit] List of sights visible from the M1
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
- Midland Main Line & Thameslink (between London Gateway services and junction 1, and also between junctions 11 and 12)
- Remains of Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal (Buncefield) (after junction 8 northbound)
- The Point Milton Keynes (between junction 13 to 14)
- West Coast Main Line (runs alongside between junctions 16 and 18)
- Rugby VLF transmitter (between junctions 18 and 19)
- East Midlands Airport (between junctions 23A and 24)
- Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station (between junctions 24 and 25)
- Sutton Scarsdale Hall (on southern approach to junction 29 - visible only to southbound traffic)
- Hardwick Hall (between junctions 28 and 29)
- Bolsover Castle (between junctions 29 and 30)
- Tinsley Viaduct cooling towers (Sheffield, near junction 34)
- Meadowhall shopping centre (Sheffield, near junction 34)
- Emley Moor mast (between Woolley Edge services and junction 38)
- Ferrybridge Power Station (at junction 42 slip road North and Southbound)
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Book on history of design, construction and use of M1 in late 1950s and 1960s [1]
- CBRD Motorway Database - M1
- Highways Agency
- The Motorway Archive:
- UK-Roads.org.uk - Images of M1
- The London - Yorkshire Motorway - History of the construction of the first section of M1
- BBC website The Backbone of Britain contains link to a video of 2'42" in length
- BBC website 'M1 could be dangerous in rain
Motorways in the United Kingdom Image:UK motorway symbol.svg | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain |
| ||||||||||
| Northern Ireland | M1 • M2 • M3 • M5 • M12 • M22 • A8(M) | ||||||||||
| Past | M16 • M41 • M63 • A18(M) • A40(M) • A41(M) • A102(M) • A6144(M) | ||||||||||
| Unbuilt | M12 • M13 • M15 • M31 • M64 | ||||||||||
| Future | M4 Toll | ||||||||||
cy:M1 de:Motorway M1 fr:Autoroute britannique M1 nl:M1 (Groot-Brittannië) no:M1 (motorvei) simple:M1 motorway sv:M1 (Storbritannien)
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