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M1 motorway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain; Road transport

                              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
Euroroute(s)


                     E 13

   The M1 motorway heading south towards junction 37 at Barnsley, South
   Yorkshire.
   Enlarge
   The M1 motorway heading south towards junction 37 at Barnsley, South
   Yorkshire.

   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 , the first road to be built to motorway standard in the
   country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6 .

   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.

History

First Section, 1959

   The first section of the motorway opened between junction 5 ( Watford)
   and junction 18 ( Crick/ Rugby) on 2 November 1959 together with the
   motorway's two spurs, the M10 (from junction 7 to St Albans) and the
   M45 (from junction 17 to the A45 and Coventry).

   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).

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,
   passes to the west of Barnsley and 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.

Leeds South Eastern Urban Motorway, 1972

   In 1972 an extension of the M1 was opened into central Leeds over as
   the Leeds South Eastern Motorway where it met the Leeds South Western
   Motorway (M621) coming north-east from the M62 at junction 3.

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).

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.

   The current junction 2 is about 600 metres south of the original
   junction. Southbound traffic originally left the motorway via a slip
   road which passed under the A1 Barnet Bypass and looped round to join
   it. 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.

Trivia

   The first motorway service station in the UK was built at Watford Gap
   and later immortalised in song by Roy Harper.

Junctions

   M1 at Junction 4
   Enlarge
   M1 at Junction 4
                                 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 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
                   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 Access J21A A46: Leicester, Newark
                               A50: Leicester
           A511: Coalville J22 A511: Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch
        A512: Loughborough, Ashby-de-la-Zouch J23 A512: Loughborough
   A42(M42): The SOUTH WEST, Tamworth, Birmingham 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 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, 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 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

     * Midland Main Line & Thameslink (between London Gateway services and
       junction 1)
     * West Coast Main Line (runs alongside between junctions 16 and 18)
     * Rugby VLF transmitter (between junctions 18 and 19)
     * Nottingham East Midlands Airport (between junctions 23A and 24)
     * Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station (between junctions 24 and 25)
     * 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 tower (between Woolley Edge services and junction 38)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_motorway"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
