M1 motorway
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- There are also M1 motorways in Northern Ireland (see M1 motorway (Northern Ireland)) and the Republic of Ireland (see M1 motorway (Republic of Ireland))
M1_motorway_(England).jpg
The M1 is a major north-south motorway in England connecting London to Yorkshire, where it joins the A1(M) near Wetherby.
The motorway is 187 miles (301 km) long and was constructed in stages between the 1950s and 1970s, with a further extension in the late 1990s. It was the first full-length motorway to be built in the United Kingdom, and was opened in 1959.
The M1 was first conceived as a London to Birmingham route broadly following the route of the A5. It started south of St Albans on the London Orbital road which connected it to the main A1 just north of London. At the northern end it turned left near Daventry in order to connect to the A45 to Coventry and then on to Birmingham. The alternate branch at the southern end - to Watford "Berrygrove" - became the major route and was extended in two stages to London, eventually terminating between the junctions of the A406 "North Circular" with the A5 ("Staples Corner") and A41 ("Brent Cross Flyover"). The first stage to London terminated at "Fiveways Corner", just north of the present Junction 2 (the A1 junction) and the original slip road is retained as an emergency exit route.
The M1 was also planned to start further in to London than its present southern terminus. Evidence of this can be seen on the southbound carriageway at Junction 1, where there is a short unused section of road continuing on whilst all traffic is diverted off the slip road.
The section around St Albans was renamed the M10. At the northern end, with changing traffic patterns, instead of extending into Birmingham the route was extended northwards to Leeds and the stub towards Coventry was renamed as the M45. The first motorway service station in the UK was built at Watford Gap and later imortalised in song by Roy Harper.
It now broadly follows an arc to the west of the route taken by the older A1; though less direct, this route takes it closer to the major population centres of the East Midlands. It passes close to Milton Keynes, Northampton, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Mansfield, Sheffield and Leeds. It also connects with the M6 and M45 motorways near Rugby, the M18 near Rotherham, the M25 near Potters Bar, the M69 at Leicester, and the M62 and M621 near Leeds.
Route
- Junction 1 - at the junction of the A5/North Circular, known as Staples Corner, at Brent Cross, west of Golders Green
- Junction 2 - "Fiveways interchange" at Hendon, west of Finchley, with A1
- Junction 3 - London Gateway Service Area (formerly Scratchwood) only
- Junction 4 - Edgware
- Junction 5 - A41, Watford and Radlett, spur road to Central Watford (built in 1990s)
- Junction 6 - north Watford and south of St Albans
- Junction 6a - for M25
- Junction 7 - for M10 west of St Albans
- Junction 8 - east of Hemel Hempstead
- Junction 9 - for A5 (northwards) and A5183 (southbound) between Redbourn and Markyate
- Junction 10 - south of Luton, sole exit to:
- Junction 10a - spur for Luton south and for Luton Airport (airport not actually on M1)
- Junction 11 - west of Luton
- Toddington Service Area
- Junction 12 - north-east of Toddington
- Junction 13 - south-east of Milton Keynes, west of Bedford
- Junction 14 - east of (central) Milton Keynes
- Newport Pagnell Service Area
- Junction 15 - south of Northampton
- Junction 15a - south-west of Northampton, north-east of Milton Keynes (via A34, A5). Uses exit for:
- Rothersthorpe Service Area
- Junction 16 - west of Northampton, east of Daventry
- Watford Gap Service Area
- Junction 17 - for M45
- Junction 18 - east of Rugby
- Junction 19 - the "Catthorpe interchange" for M6 and A14
- Junction 20 - east of Lutterworth
- Junction 21 - for M69, south-west of Leicester
- Leicester Forest East Service Area
- Junction 21a - for northern Leicester
- Junction 22 - east of Coalville
- Junction 23 - west of Loughborough, east of Shepshed
- Junction 23a - A42, Donington Park Service Area (northbound)
- Junction 24 - west of Kegworth, for East Midlands Airport, Donington Park Service Area (southbound)
- Junction 24a - for A50
- Junction 25 - between Derby and Nottingham
- Trowell Service Area
- Junction 26 - north-west of Nottingham
- Junction 27 - north-west of Hucknall
- Junction 28 - west of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Mansfield, east of Alfreton
- Tibshelf Service Area
- Junction 29 - south-east of Chesterfield
- Junction 30 - north-east of Chesterfield
- Junction 31 - "Aston Roundabout", east of Aston-cum-Aughton
- Junction 32 - for M18
- Junction 33 - between Rotherham and Sheffield
- Junction 34 - Tinsley Viaduct between Rotherham and Sheffield, for Meadowhall
- Junction 35 - Thorpe Hesley, east of Chapeltown
- Junction 35a - for A616
- Junction 36 - west of Hoyland Nether
- Junction 37 - west of Barnsley
- Junction 38 - west of Royston
- Junction 39 - west of Crigglestone
- Woolley Edge Service Area
- Junction 40 - west of Wakefield
- Junction 41 - north-west of Wakefield
- Junction 42 - for M62, J29
- Junction 43 - for M621 (Leeds)
- Junction 44 - for Rothwell and the A639
- Junction 45 - not yet open
- Junction 46 - for East Leeds and for the A63
- Junction 47 - north of Garforth
- Junction 48 - motorway ends and joins with the A1
Junction 3 on the M1 was originally intended as a turn-off for Scratchwood (now London Gateway), but is now only used for the Scratchwood service station.
See also
- Category:M1 Motorway service stations
- List of motorways in the United Kingdom
- M1 motorway (Northern Ireland)
External links
- UK Roads Portal (http://www.uk-roads.org.uk/)
- CBRD Motorway Database - M1 (http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/1.shtml)
- BBC website The Backbone of Britain contains link to a video of 2'42" in length (http://www.bbc.co.uk/northamptonshire/asop/northampton/m1.shtml)no:M1 (motorvei)