I was thinking the other day about what would a list of projected motorway which were never built or were built as something else. Well as far as I am aware the A50 was orginally intended to be the M64, anyway here my list
M23 Brighton (to the south) (London to the north of Hooley)
M64 Stoke to Derby Built as A50
M621 Northern Extension for about a mile into Leeds City Centre from its old terminus at Crown Point. I remember the continuation of the tarmac for a few metres at this point and at least one overbridge which has since been demolished. I wish I'd kept an old A to Z which showed the route!
M650 Airedale Motorway Built as A650 Airedale Trunk Road
A1 Various upgrades such as the Stamford Bypass, as proposed in the Roads for Prosperity Document of the late 1980's
[b]A14(M) [b]Cambridgeshire (Again a Roads for Prosperity scheme for an upgrade between the M11 and the A1(M) at Alconbury
[b]A823(M) [b]Rosyth Bypass Never Built
Kirklees Motorway from the M1 (near Wakefield to the M62 at Brighouse) But what would have been the number???
Any more?
Jim
Unbuilt Motorways
Moderator: Site Management Team
How about the bottom of the M11?
Of course there are a few which were left unfinished for years....
M74 extension - still unfinished, but probably going to be done.
M8 J1-2. This was left for years before it was eventually finished. Heading westbound you had to join the motorway from a slip road, even though there was a guarantee of no traffic on the motorway.
M41. Do a search on previous posts
all i can think of right now.
Of course there are a few which were left unfinished for years....
M74 extension - still unfinished, but probably going to be done.
M8 J1-2. This was left for years before it was eventually finished. Heading westbound you had to join the motorway from a slip road, even though there was a guarantee of no traffic on the motorway.
M41. Do a search on previous posts
all i can think of right now.
A recurring topic but still an interesting one - You could read previous postings on the S.A.B.R.E archive, e.g. the 'Abandoned Motorways' thread started 28.12.01.
As a quite bit of revision may I also nominate these -
M4 diversion - Newport Southern relief road, marked as proposed in A-Z Atlases but unlikely to be built in near future.
M11 cambridge to Humber Bridge - Not sure if this was ever a serious proposal
M12 from near M11 junction 4 to Chelmsford and possibly further
M20 further into London - Presnet junction 1 was numbered junction 3 at one time implying ths scheme was downgraded at some stage.
M27 east towards Folkestone (west also ?)
M42 Link to Nottingham - Downgraded as late stage to A42
M50 Strensham to M40/M42 junction.
M53 extension west of Chester
M57 extension north towards Southport and south (eventually built as A 5300)
M58 Link to M61
Motorway between Liverpool and Preston (M59 ?) (see lancashire website)
M62 Junctions 1 -4
M62 'parallel' motorway - junctions 12-18, i.e separate from M60
M65 East to link with A1
M67 extension west into central Manchester and east towards Sheffield (not sure how much was ever actually proposed)
Motorway linking Stretford and Knutsford -M6/M56 link section likely to be built (A556(M))
M74 - M8 'fastlink'
A6(M) Hazel Grove bypass - could be built as A road.
(Birmingham) Western Orbital Route - Recently reproposed but not likely to be motorway
Motorway linkingsouth Bristol to junction 20 of the M5
The London Box and Rings - extensively covered elsewhere.
As a quite bit of revision may I also nominate these -
M4 diversion - Newport Southern relief road, marked as proposed in A-Z Atlases but unlikely to be built in near future.
M11 cambridge to Humber Bridge - Not sure if this was ever a serious proposal
M12 from near M11 junction 4 to Chelmsford and possibly further
M20 further into London - Presnet junction 1 was numbered junction 3 at one time implying ths scheme was downgraded at some stage.
M27 east towards Folkestone (west also ?)
M42 Link to Nottingham - Downgraded as late stage to A42
M50 Strensham to M40/M42 junction.
M53 extension west of Chester
M57 extension north towards Southport and south (eventually built as A 5300)
M58 Link to M61
Motorway between Liverpool and Preston (M59 ?) (see lancashire website)
M62 Junctions 1 -4
M62 'parallel' motorway - junctions 12-18, i.e separate from M60
M65 East to link with A1
M67 extension west into central Manchester and east towards Sheffield (not sure how much was ever actually proposed)
Motorway linking Stretford and Knutsford -M6/M56 link section likely to be built (A556(M))
M74 - M8 'fastlink'
A6(M) Hazel Grove bypass - could be built as A road.
(Birmingham) Western Orbital Route - Recently reproposed but not likely to be motorway
Motorway linkingsouth Bristol to junction 20 of the M5
The London Box and Rings - extensively covered elsewhere.
AKA M5 Driver
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Switch Island
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The M65 was planned to feed into another - undisclosed standard - dual carriageway route westwards from its existing (oddly-numbered) Junction 1a to curve northwards to create a Preston Southern and Western bypass - this would have plugged into the M55 at the proposed currently "missing" Junction 2.
According to 'Trunk Roads, England: Into the 1990s' (daughter document of Roads to Prosperity),"...the Preston Southern and Western bypass will include a new crossing of the River Ribble and will link to bypasses towards and around Ormskirk." According to the document's appendix, proposed standard was D2/D3 all purpose, 10.0miles long and estimated to cost ?80 million at Nov 87 prices. The scheme had not even reached Preferred Route stage - programmed to be Winter 1991 - at the time, so it would have been doomed from early on.
Not being from the area, maybe some locals can comment on the need for it and its relevance to the Ormskirk bypass - am I right in thinking this scheme never got off the drawing board?
Toby
Not being from the area, maybe some locals can comment on the need for it and its relevance to the Ormskirk bypass - am I right in thinking this scheme never got off the drawing board?
Toby
Having lived not far from Ormskirk, the biggest problem I found was going north from Southport/Ormskirk and trying to get over to the M6. I found a rat-run through a number of small villages and emerging at junction 1a of the M65, but it wasn't ideal. The majority of traffic making this journey goes via Preston, hence the town (city now!) chokes up.
Tarleton lights, where the A59 and A565 meet, is often a bottleneck too.
If the M65western extension ever got off the ground (which I'm guessing is the same as the Prestion Southern & Western bypass that you mention), it would have alleviated some of the bottlenecks around Preston itself, plus it would have helped the M6/M55 junction, which often gets very busy during summer. However it would have meant that even more people would use the A59 around Ormskirk, as it would then provide a viable alternative for Liverpool-Blackpool traffic. Unless, of course, it was itself upgraded between Switch Island and Preston (M59?)
Stu
Tarleton lights, where the A59 and A565 meet, is often a bottleneck too.
If the M65western extension ever got off the ground (which I'm guessing is the same as the Prestion Southern & Western bypass that you mention), it would have alleviated some of the bottlenecks around Preston itself, plus it would have helped the M6/M55 junction, which often gets very busy during summer. However it would have meant that even more people would use the A59 around Ormskirk, as it would then provide a viable alternative for Liverpool-Blackpool traffic. Unless, of course, it was itself upgraded between Switch Island and Preston (M59?)
Stu
I'm sure we've discussed the Preston ring road idea before!
The original plan as I understand it was to have the M6 as the eastern bypass, the M55 as the northern bypass and the M65 (or, before the M65 plan, some other motorway on the same alignment) as the southern bypass. There would have been an M59 from the missing junction on the M58 up to Preston (as Stu531 worked out), though whether the M59 or M65 would have taken priority and formed the western bypass is anyone's guess. The western bypass, whether M65 or M59, would of course have joined up to the M55's missing junction.
I believe originally the M59 would have done this, especially before the M65 was built, though once the M65 was there channelling traffic in from the Calder Valley that would have been the priority route.
The 1980's version seems like a chopped back excuse for not having built it in the first place! When the Preston Bypass was 4-laned it was said that it was done instead of building a western bypass.
Chris
The original plan as I understand it was to have the M6 as the eastern bypass, the M55 as the northern bypass and the M65 (or, before the M65 plan, some other motorway on the same alignment) as the southern bypass. There would have been an M59 from the missing junction on the M58 up to Preston (as Stu531 worked out), though whether the M59 or M65 would have taken priority and formed the western bypass is anyone's guess. The western bypass, whether M65 or M59, would of course have joined up to the M55's missing junction.
I believe originally the M59 would have done this, especially before the M65 was built, though once the M65 was there channelling traffic in from the Calder Valley that would have been the priority route.
The 1980's version seems like a chopped back excuse for not having built it in the first place! When the Preston Bypass was 4-laned it was said that it was done instead of building a western bypass.
Chris
Chris
Roads.org.uk
Roads.org.uk
I originally posted the message below in August, and Ian's suggestion that the M12 was planned to go to Chelmsford and beyond prompts me to put it up again:
The recent discussions about the never-built M12 prompted me to look through various papers that I've accumulated over the years and I found the following. It appears in a handout produced by the Department of Transport in 1993 when construction of the M11 link road was about to start in Leytonstone and Wanstead.
"The M11 at Woodford was also designed to accommodate the later construction of an M12 motorway. This was intended to relieve Gants Hill and connect to the then proposed third London Airport at Maplin. However, it was decided by the Department of Transport in January 1987 to end the formal safeguarding of the proposed M12 motorway in this area. The section between the M11 at Woodford and the M12/M25 at Brentwood, Essex will not now be built."
The proposed Maplin Airport would have been offshore near Southend/Shoeburyness on the Essex coast, so it would seem that, from its junction with the M25, the M12 would have served as a bypass for the A127 and A13, not as a replacement for the A12. If plans for an M12 are ever advanced again, no doubt it would now follow the route of the A12 instead.
The recent discussions about the never-built M12 prompted me to look through various papers that I've accumulated over the years and I found the following. It appears in a handout produced by the Department of Transport in 1993 when construction of the M11 link road was about to start in Leytonstone and Wanstead.
"The M11 at Woodford was also designed to accommodate the later construction of an M12 motorway. This was intended to relieve Gants Hill and connect to the then proposed third London Airport at Maplin. However, it was decided by the Department of Transport in January 1987 to end the formal safeguarding of the proposed M12 motorway in this area. The section between the M11 at Woodford and the M12/M25 at Brentwood, Essex will not now be built."
The proposed Maplin Airport would have been offshore near Southend/Shoeburyness on the Essex coast, so it would seem that, from its junction with the M25, the M12 would have served as a bypass for the A127 and A13, not as a replacement for the A12. If plans for an M12 are ever advanced again, no doubt it would now follow the route of the A12 instead.
Chris: <<The 1980's version seems like a chopped back excuse for not having built it in the first place! When the Preston Bypass was 4-laned it was said that it was done instead of building a western bypass.>>
I'd not known that before, though I guess they saw it as killing two birds with one stone.
Preston is an odd one, I always think - not such a big city, but an extremely important destination point; I guess it's because it's where major routes meet before culminating in the route up to Scotland; the last major place before the long haul north.
I wonder if there are any future plans to do anything with the M65 at itswestern extent? Although the current junction numbers suggest not, it does seem to end rather awkwardly.
Stu
I'd not known that before, though I guess they saw it as killing two birds with one stone.
Preston is an odd one, I always think - not such a big city, but an extremely important destination point; I guess it's because it's where major routes meet before culminating in the route up to Scotland; the last major place before the long haul north.
I wonder if there are any future plans to do anything with the M65 at itswestern extent? Although the current junction numbers suggest not, it does seem to end rather awkwardly.
Stu