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Revision as of 12:28, 8 June 2004
The M1 motorway is the name of three separate motorways in England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
England
The M1 is a major north-south motorway in England connecting London to Yorkshire, where it joins the A1(M) near Wetherby.
The motorway was one of the first to be built in the United Kingdom. It is around 200 miles (300 km) long and was constructed in stages between the 1950s and 1970s, with a further extension in the late 1990s.
The M1 was first designed and constructed as a London to Birmingham route broadly following the route of the A5, starting south of St Albans and ending at Coventry. Subsequently the road was diverted at the southern end to Watford and then in two stages to London. The stub to St Albans becoming the M10. At the northern end, with changing traffic patterns, the road was extended northwards to Leeds and the stub remaining here became the M45. The first motorway service area in the UK was built at Watford Gap.
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 Potter's Bar, the M69 at Leicester, and the M62 and M621 near Leeds.
Route
- Junction 1 - west of Golders Green
- Junction 2 - west of Finchley
- Junction 4 - south of Borehamwood
- Junction 5 - east of Watford
- Junction 6 - south of St Albans
- Junction 6a - for M25
- Junction 7 - west of St Albans
- Junction 8 - east of Hemel Hempstead
- Junction 9 - west of Harpenden
- Junction 10 - south of Luton
- Junction 11 - west of Luton
- Junction 12 - east of Toddington
- Junction 13 - east of Milton Keynes
- Junction 14 - north of Milton Keynes
- Junction 15 - south of Northampton
- Junction 15a - south-west of Northampton
- Junction 16 - west of Northampton
- Junction 17 - for M45
- Junction 18 - east of Rugby
- Junction 19 - for M6 and A14
- Junction 20 - east of Lutterworth
- Junction 21 - for M69, south-west of Leicester
- Junction 21a - for northern Leicester
- Junction 22 - east of Coalville
- Junction 23 - west of Loughborough
- Junction 24 - west of Kegworth, for East Midlands Airport
- Junction 24a - for A50
- Junction 25 - between Derby and Nottingham
- Junction 26 - west of Nottingham
- Junction 27 - northwest of Hucknall
- Junction 28 - west of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Mansfield
- Junction 29 - southeast of Chesterfield
- Junction 30 - northeast 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
- Junction 35 - Thorpe Hesley, east of Chapeltown
- Junction 35a - for A616
- Junction 36 - west of Hoyland
- Junction 37 - west of Barnsley
- Junction 38 - west of Royston
- Junction 39 - west of Crigglestone
- Junction 40 - west of Wakefield
- Junction 41 - north-west of Wakefield
- Junction 42 - for M62, J29
- Junction 43, etc - for Leeds
Junction 3 on the M1 was originally intended as a turn-off for Scratchwood, but is now only used for the Scratchwood service station.
Northern Ireland
There is also an M1 motorway in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast to Dungannon, bypassing Lisburn, Lurgan, Craigavon and Portadown on the way.
Republic of Ireland
The M1 motorway in the Republic of Ireland consisted of several short sections built as bypasses of sections of the N1 road, running from Dublin toward Belfast. It now is continuous motorway from Dublin to just south of Dundalk. Govt approval has been given to bypass Dundalk town and outline permission to build motorway to the border with Co. Armagh.
There is a toll on the motorway south of Drogheda to fund the construction of the motorway.
The Authorithies in Northern Ireland have decided not to upgrade the A1 route from the M1(Northern Ireland) south to the proposed M1(Republic of Ireland). This means to drive from Dublin to Belfast, people drive on the M1, N1, A1, M1(Northern Ireland)