M1 motorway
Encyclopedia : M : M1 : M1M : M1 motorway
- This article concerns the M1 motorway in England.
There are M1 motorways in Northern Ireland (see M1 motorway (Northern Ireland)), the Republic of Ireland (see N1 road), in Johannesburg, in Pakistan (see List of motorways and highways of Pakistan), and in Hungary (see M1) .
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| M1 motorway | |
| Length | 190.8 miles 307.1 km |
| Direction | South - North |
| Start | London Staples Corner |
| Primary destinations | Watford St Albans Hemel Hempstead Luton Dunstable Milton Keynes Northampton Rugby Leicester Loughborough Nottingham Mansfield Chesterfield Worksop Sheffield Rotherham Barnsley Wakefield Dewsbury Leeds |
| End | Aberford |
| Construction dates | 1959 - 1999 |
| Motorways joined | 6A -  M25 motorway 7 -  M10 motorway 17 -  M45 motorway 19 -  M6 motorway 21 -  M69 motorway 32 -  M18 motorway 42 -  M62 motorway 43 -  M621 motorway 48 - A1(M) motorway |
The M1 is a major north-south motorway in England connecting London to Yorkshire, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford.
The motorway is 193 miles (310 km) long and was constructed in stages between the 1950s and 1970s, with a further extension in the late 1990s. It was opened on November 2 1959 between junctions 5 and 18, along with the M10 and M45 spurs. Whilst the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, [link] the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6. [link]
The M1 was first opened as a St Albans Bypass (j5-10a and M10) and London to Birmingham route (j10-18 and M45) broadly following the route of the A5. It started south of St Albans on the Watford Bypass which connected it to the main A1 at Apex Corner. At the northern end it linked to the A5 at Crick, with a spur (M45) to connect to the A45 to Coventry and then on to Birmingham. The alternate branch (M10) at the southern end was to the North Orbital Road (the forerunner to the M25) at Park Street (where the then A5 and A6 also met it). The M1 was extended in two stages to London, 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 (on ringway 1) than its present southern terminus. The northbound flyover from the other side of the roundabout, as well as the flare in the carriageways, show that the M1 was to go over the roundabout here.
The first motorway service station in the UK was built at Watford Gap and later immortalised in song by Roy Harper.
The government always planned for the M1 to reach Yorkshire, and a series of extensions took it through the East Midlands. Originally, the M1 was to end at Doncaster. However, it was decided to go over what was going to be the "Leeds and Sheffield Spur", with the stub of the M1 becoming, and opening as, the M18. There were plans to reroute the M1 from just south of the M62, round the west of Leeds and to the A1 at Dishforth. However, these were changed to a curving route to the east of Leeds, with the M621 completing a "D" shaped ring. The termini of both these motorways were sub-standard, messy junctions. In 1999, the M1 was extended to join the A1 at Hook Moor, with the three miles of the old M1 renumbered as an extension of the M621. This is the only section of the M1 to have been renumbered.
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. A close approximation of its route using A-roads is: A5, A426, A6, A60, A57, A61.
It passes close to Milton Keynes, Northampton, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Mansfield, Alfreton, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds. It also connects with the M6 and M45 motorways near Rugby, the M18 near Rotherham, the M25 near Watford, the M69 at Leicester, and the M62 and M621 near Leeds.
List of Junctions
| M1 Motorway
| ||
| Southbound exits | Junction | Northbound exits |
| A406: North Circular | J1 | Start of Motorway |
| A1: The City | J2 | No Access |
| London Gateway Service Area | ||
| 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 | 1505: 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 | ||
| A508: Northampton | J15 | A508: Northampton |
| 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 Northbound Access | J21A | A46: Leicester, Newark |
| A50: Leicester A511: Coalville | J22 | A511: Coalville, Ashby |
| A512: Loughborough, Ashby | J23 | A512: Loughborough |
| A42(M42): The SOUTH WEST, Tamworth, Birmingham | J23a | No Access |
| A6: Loughborough A453: East Midlands Airport Donington Park services | J24 | A453: Nottingham East Midlands Airport A50: Stoke A6: Derby Donington Park services A453: Nottingham South/Centre |
| A50: Stoke A6: Derby | J24a | No Access |
| A52: Nottingham South, Derby | J25 | A52: Derby, Nottingham West/Centre |
| Trowell 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 |
| 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 | J38 | A637: Huddersfield |
| 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 | J45 | Under construction |
| 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 |
List of sights visible from the M1
- Emley Moor tower (between Woolley Edge services and junction 38)
- Meadowhall shopping centre (Sheffield, near junction 34)
- 'Bill and Ben' cooling towers (Sheffield, near junction 34) see [Google Maps] for a picture
- Nottingham East Midlands Airport (between junctions 23A and 24)
- Rugby VLF transmitter (between junctions 18 and 19)
- West Coast Main Line (runs alongside between junctions 16 and 18)
- Midland Main Line & Thameslink (between London Gateway services and junction 1)
See also
External links
- [UK Roads Portal]
- [UK Motorway Archive]
- [CBRD Motorway Database - M1]
- [BBC website The Backbone of Britain contains link to a video of 2'42" in length]
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