M180 motorway
What is this site? It is generaly simplier version of wikipedia. You will find there selected articles. Enjoy!
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007) |
The M180 motorway is a short but major (25 miles (40 km)) motorway in England from junction 5 on the M18 motorway in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster to a point close to Humberside Airport some 5 miles (8 km) from the ports of Immingham and Grimsby and the east coast and provides access for major routes to Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Hull (via the Humber Bridge), Immingham, Lincoln, Scunthorpe and also provides major access for Humberside Airport and the Killingholme Oil Refineries. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E22 and is the main route along the south bank of the Humber Estuary. It is an unusual motorway as it is the longest motorway within the United Kingdom as well as being one of only two major motorways (the other being the M621) to carry a three digit number as all other motorways that carry three digit numbers are short spurs that lead off other major motorways that only tend at most to be a couple of miles long.
Contents |
History
Planning and construction
The motorway bypass around Brigg was discussed for many years, but the Flixborough explosion gave it more importance, and was built three years later in 1977 as the second section of the motorway. At this time the A15 ran through Hibaldstow and Redbourne to Brigg, and the junction with the motorway was at Castlethorpe Corner, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the current A15 junction on the line of the Roman Ermine Street. The initial, and somewhat diminutive section of the motorway was the short-lived A18(M) also known as the Tudworth Link, which connected the roundabout junction with the M18 to the A18/A614. The easterly A18(M) sliproad is still used, though the original roundabout at junction 1 has now been replaced by a bridge close to Tudworth Hall Farm. The last section to be built was the Trent viaduct, opened in October 1979 by Kenneth Clarke, despite being 43 weeks late on account of strikes and bad weather.
The motorway is built to dual three-lane standard for most of its duration (aside from a short dual two-lane section past Scunthorpe), and is quite straight and flat.
The M180 has its own spur - the M181. It is somewhat strange that while the M180 has to make do with a roundabout junction with the M18, its spur has a large, freeflowing trumpet interchange. At the start of the M180 are the Doncaster North services, owned by Moto.Doncaster North
A180 extension
It was extended in the 1980s to trunk-road standard as the A180 which is a two lane dual carriageway which continues on to Grimsby and Cleethorpes. In its early planning stages, it was to be named the A18.
The £18 million 6-mile (9.7 km) section from Brigg to Ulceby (A160) was opened on 29 March 1983 by Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, and the £21 million 7-mile (11 km) section from Ulceby to Grimsby opened in late 1983. the road surface of this section is particularly noisy.
The lack of observable landscape features, the flat and straight dimensions of the road, and the hypnotic effect of the concrete surface have helped to make it difficult for some drivers to stay awake whilst at the wheel when tired, or have had not enough sleep. Many of the fatalities on the road have been attributed to drivers being asleep at the wheel.
Junctions
| M180 Motorway | ||
| Westbound exits | Junction | Eastbound exits |
| Doncaster, Sheffield M18 | M18, J5 Doncaster North services |
Start of Motorway |
| No access | J1 | Thorne A18 Hatfield A614 |
| Goole, Epworth, Crowle A161 | J2 | Epworth, Crowle A161 |
| Scunthorpe (West) M181 | J3 | Scunthorpe (West) M181 |
| Lincoln A15 Scunthorpe (East) A18 |
J4 | Lincoln A15 Scunthorpe (East), Brigg A18 |
| Start of Motorway | J5 | Humber Bridge, Hull A15 |
| Humber Bridge, Hull A15 Non-motorway traffic |
Road continues as A180 to Grimsby and Cleethorpes | |
Famous Patrons of the M180
- Gary Hart - Fell asleep on the M62 after driving the entire length of the M180, causing the Selby rail crash, and killing ten people.
- Gaizka Mendieta - was fined for speeding on this motorway after playing in Scunthorpe United player Alex Calvo-Garcia's testimonial match
References
- ^ Pathetic Motorways: A18(M)
External links
- CBRD Motorway Database - M180
- Pathetic Motorways - M180
- A180 is quietened down.
- UK Motorway Archive.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates: 53°33′02″N 0°41′43″W / 53.5505°N 0.6952°W