Motorway Directions

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A303Chris
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Motorway Directions

Post by A303Chris »

This post is resolve a discussion in the Office about what direction the M2 and M20 go in and has then lead to me thinking.

I have said in a report we are writing that the M2 has east and west bound carriageways and the M20 has north and southbound carriageways.

I've been told they are either both north/south or east/west. But in fact the M20 is predominately north west or south east bound when the M2 is predominately east / west bound.

Now we get onto the M3 and M40. Until the M3 was extended south from J7 and the M40 north from also J7, they were referred to as east/west bound on traffic reports. When both were completed in the early 90's they both changed to north/south bound. While the extensions clearly are north/south the first bits were not.

What is the best protocol.

Probably why in the old days of the Flying Eye on Capital Radio, all motorways were referred to as into town or out of town.
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wrinkly
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by wrinkly »

Coast-bound and London-bound?
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jackal
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by jackal »

The protocol is pretty simply. Does it go more east-west or north-south? On this basis both M2 and M20 are east-west rather than north-south.

North west, south east, etc is an overcomplication likely to lead to confusion.

Coastbound and Londonbound also seems pointless and Londoncentric unless we're going to open the can of worms of a 'Birminghambound' M40, etc.

I think it's best to keep it to east-west or north-south. The main exceptions are ring roads which of course have clockwise and anticlockwise.
Last edited by jackal on Wed Mar 31, 2021 15:00, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by A303Chris »

wrinkly wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:45 Coast-bound and London-bound?
That's a very good shout
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Alderpoint »

jackal wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:57 I think it's best to keep it to east-west or north-south. The main exceptions are ring roads which of course have clockwise and anticlockwise.
M42 is an awkward one. M5 to M40 it's east-west, M40 to A42 it's north-south. But between M5 to M6 it is also serves as a ring road.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Micro The Maniac »

Alderpoint wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 16:08 M42 is an awkward one. M5 to M40 it's east-west, M40 to A42 it's north-south. But between M5 to M6 it is also serves as a ring road.
Last time I came out of Hopwood Services, I had to do a double take, resulting in an extra circuit of the roundabout...

At J2, which way is North?

https://goo.gl/maps/ivdzWuTLEY53q46g6
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Chris Bertram
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Chris Bertram »

A303Chris wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:59
wrinkly wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:45 Coast-bound and London-bound?
That's a very good shout
Nope. Up and Down, as per the railways, with Up meaning towards London, in England and Wales, anyway.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by ais523 »

Chris Bertram wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 18:51Nope. Up and Down, as per the railways, with Up meaning towards London, in England and Wales, anyway.
This has its own issues: if you look at the mileposts for a railway line which doesn't go to London, it can be very hard to guess which direction is up and which direction is down! (I think at least one that I used to use regularly reversed milepost direction at some point.)

Using a system like that on the roads would be even worse; there are more roads than railways, and they're more likely to be driven on by unfamiliar drivers.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

Chris Bertram wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 18:51
A303Chris wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:59
wrinkly wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:45 Coast-bound and London-bound?
That's a very good shout
Nope. Up and Down, as per the railways, with Up meaning towards London, in England and Wales, anyway.
What logic is applied on railways which don't go to/from London - the M5 and M62 motorways don't fit with London-centric directions.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Big L »

Ruperts Trooper wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 20:48
Chris Bertram wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 18:51
A303Chris wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:59
That's a very good shout
Nope. Up and Down, as per the railways, with Up meaning towards London, in England and Wales, anyway.
What logic is applied on railways which don't go to/from London - the M5 and M62 motorways don't fit with London-centric directions.
And what fun to decide which way is which on the M25!
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Brenley Corner »

The M2 is definitely Londonbound and Coastbound as signed at J5: Streetview
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by trickstat »

Micro The Maniac wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 18:32
Alderpoint wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 16:08 M42 is an awkward one. M5 to M40 it's east-west, M40 to A42 it's north-south. But between M5 to M6 it is also serves as a ring road.
Last time I came out of Hopwood Services, I had to do a double take, resulting in an extra circuit of the roundabout...

At J2, which way is North?

https://goo.gl/maps/ivdzWuTLEY53q46g6
Although from there you will be heading east for some distance, it would be the way you would go if you want to head some distance north on the M42 itself. The opposite direction does not go north (I'm excluding drivers who then head north on the M5).
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Chris Bertram
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Chris Bertram »

Big L wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 20:52
Ruperts Trooper wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 20:48
Chris Bertram wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 18:51 Nope. Up and Down, as per the railways, with Up meaning towards London, in England and Wales, anyway.
What logic is applied on railways which don't go to/from London - the M5 and M62 motorways don't fit with London-centric directions.
And what fun to decide which way is which on the M25!
It's a good question, perhaps a look at the equivalent railways would help us? The Cross-Country Route covers Birmingham to Briston and there is a Leeds-Manchester line.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Isleworth1961 »

Chris Bertram wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 21:36
Big L wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 20:52
Ruperts Trooper wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 20:48
What logic is applied on railways which don't go to/from London - the M5 and M62 motorways don't fit with London-centric directions.
And what fun to decide which way is which on the M25!
It's a good question, perhaps a look at the equivalent railways would help us? The Cross-Country Route covers Birmingham to Bristol and there is a Leeds-Manchester line.
The Birmingham to Bristol line has it as up to Birmingham and down to Bristol. That's because the route used to belong to the Midland Railway, and its Derby headquarters was the centre of its universe - its mileages were also measured from there.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Chris5156 »

wrinkly wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 14:45 Coast-bound and London-bound?
That’s the answer I settled on for their pages in the Motorway Database - all others have cardinal directions but M2 and M20 are a difficult pair.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by orudge »

Not a motorway, but I always think of the A96 as westbound/eastbound rather than northbound/southbound, which I know a number of other folk use. While the road as a whole does run from Aberdeen north to Inverness, it reaches a northernmost point around Elgin then runs southbound to Inverness, whereas the road remains pretty consistently westbound or eastbound.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Was92now625 »

Of course, the "decision" is made more "official" in e.g. USA. The number (in certain categories of road) is odd or even depending on which direction the road is deemed to run.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Bryn666 »

Was92now625 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:05 Of course, the "decision" is made more "official" in e.g. USA. The number (in certain categories of road) is odd or even depending on which direction the road is deemed to run.
Causes problems when a road runs diagonally though - for example I-44.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by Was92now625 »

Bryn666 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:50
Was92now625 wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:05 Of course, the "decision" is made more "official" in e.g. USA. The number (in certain categories of road) is odd or even depending on which direction the road is deemed to run.
Causes problems when a road runs diagonally though - for example I-44.
Yes. There is the actual direction and the "official direction" the road is "deemed" to run.
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Re: Motorway Directions

Post by jgharston »

orudge wrote: Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:11 Not a motorway, but I always think of the A96 as westbound/eastbound rather than northbound/southbound, which I know a number of other folk use. While the road as a whole does run from Aberdeen north to Inverness, it reaches a northernmost point around Elgin then runs southbound to Inverness, whereas the road remains pretty consistently westbound or eastbound.
On a similar theme, I am continually correcting people who refer to travelling "north" from Whitby if they are referring to a land route. If you travel north from Whitby you will get wet.
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