M1 motorway

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Countries:

England

The M1 motorway (English for, M1 ') is often referred to as the heart of the UK motorway network. It is considered the first motorway in Britain.

The M1 extends to a length of 300 km ( 187 miles ) between the northern ring road of London and the outskirts of Leeds.

The first section of the southern end of the motorway was opened by the then Minister of Transport Ernest Marples on November 2, 1959. He described completely in the spirit of this time, in his opening speech the highway as a " great highway, which heralds a new era of road traffic and so with the new exciting era of science in which we live, to keep pace ."

The construction of the first 72 -mile portion of the piece lasted 19 months - so it was one miles highway built in eight days - and then cost 16.5 million GBP. 5,000 workers moving 20 million tons of earth and rock. They were taken with a double -decker bus to work, and every 2.5 miles, there were on the edge of the construction site canteen. The construction of the entire M1 then cost 50 million GBP.

In 1999, the M1 was extended for eight miles to the east to get around Leeds and create a connection to the A1.

The M1 was designed for a daily traffic volume of about 13,000 vehicles. Today daily drive on up to 140,000 vehicles, the M1, where there is the highest traffic between exits 7 and 10. Because of the many traffic jams, the M1 is also jokingly called the largest car park in England. This situation is also justified by the fact that the number of vehicles on Britain's roads has risen from 2.8 million in 1959 to over 27.5 million.

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