- There are also M1 motorways in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
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 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. It started south of St Albans on the London Orbital road which connected it to the main A1 just north of London, and turned left near Daventry in order to connect to the A45 to Coventry and then on to Birmingham. Subsequently the road was diverted at the southern end to Watford and then in two stages to London. The stub around St Albans became 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 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 - on the North Circular, west of Golders Green
- Junction 2 - west of Finchley with the A1
- London Gateway (formerly Scratchwood) Service Area
- Junction 4 - for Elstree and Edgware
- Junction 5 - east of Watford
- 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 west of Harpenden
- Junction 10 - south of Luton
- Junction 10a - for Luton Airport
- Junction 11 - west of Luton
- Toddington Service Area
- Junction 12 - north-east of Toddington
- Junction 13 - east of Milton Keynes
- Junction 14 - north-east of Milton Keynes
- Newport Pagnell Service Area
- Junction 15 - south of Northampton
- Junction 15a - south-west of Northampton
- 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 - 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
- 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
- Junction 40 - west of Wakefield
- Junction 41 - north-west of Wakefield
- Junction 42 - for M62, J29
- Junction 43 - for M621
- 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
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