M40 motorway
Encyclopedia : M : M4 : M40 : M40 motorway
|
| |
| M40 motorway | |
| Length | 89 miles 144 km |
| Direction | Southeast - Northwest |
| Start | London Uxbridge |
| Primary destinations | Beaconsfield High Wycombe Oxford Banbury Warwick Royal Leamington Spa Stratford-upon-Avon Birmingham |
| End | Earlswood |
| Construction dates | 1967 - 1991 |
| Motorways joined | 1A -  M25 motorway  M42 motorway |
The M40 motorway is the second motorway in the English transport network to connect London to Birmingham.
The M40 was constructed in stages with the first section from Handycross to Stokenchuch (Juctions 4-5) opening in 1967. In 1969 a tempoary juction (Junction 2*) was built at Holtspur just outside of Beaconsfied that carried the Motorway to the first section at Handycross(Junction 4). The Beaconsfield bypass (Junction 2) which was part of the motorway was built in 1971 and the Gerrards Cross Bypass (Junctions 1-2) conecting to this was completed in 1973. Junctions 5-8 Pitmore to Chilworth just outside of Oxford were completed in 1974. Construction from Birmingham to Oxford (The missing link) started in 1988 from the M42 near Longbrige (Junctions 15 - M42) and finishing with construction through Warwickshire and the Cherwell Valley in 1991 linking Junctions 15 to Junction 8. The motorway opened for it full length of 89 miles in 1991. The M40 was to be the last major Motorway construction in the UK however during the final stages of construction the Conservative government of the time announced a major new road building sheme which included new motorway around the M23 in Hampshire.
The M40 motorway hit the headlines on 18 November, 1993. The previous night a minibus, carrying 15 pupils from Hagley R.C High School in Worcestershire back from a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, crashed on the motorway near Warwick after the teacher driving the minibus allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. Ten pupils and the teacher died at the scene; two more pupils died within the next three days as a result of their injuries. The two pupils who survived went on to make a full recovery from their injuries and were discharged from hospital within a week. The tragedy resulted in seatbelts becoming compulsory equipment on all buses and coaches, although it is still not compulsory for them to be worn.
Route of the M40
The M40 begins at the Denham Roundabout near Uxbridge just east of the M25 and finishes at the M42 near Birmingham.
List of Junctions
An anecdote
The fact that the M40 led from London to Oxford and the M11 from London to Cambridge led to a famous sketch in one episode of the BBC's sitcom Yes, Minister. Jim Hacker, a Government minister and a lead character in the show, pondered why Britain had fast motorways to these ancient university towns but not to important seaports such as Dover and Felixstowe. Sir Humphrey Appleby, his Department's Permanent Secretary, explained that the motorway network had been designed by civil servants, all of whom had been educated at one university or the other. The general Civil Service attitude can be summed up by Sir Humphrey's expostulation in another episode: "Of course I believe in universities, Minister: both of them!"Trivia
- The M40 features in the film Thunderbird 6, where it doubles for the fictional M104 motorway. The M40 had not been opened to traffic at the time.
- The M40 features in the opening titles of The Vicar of Dibley. The titles show a bird's eye view of the Chiltern scarp affording a fine view of the Oxfordshire countryside.
- Travelling eastbound as you approach London and on the left hand side, a long concrete wall bordering a forest area is daubed with the words "why do I do this every day?". The author of this "work" is not known but it is likely a message to the thousands of commuters that drive by every weekday morning. The graffiti has been mentioned on the BBC motoring programme, Top Gear.
See also
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.