Motorways - who's bagged them all.....

[wrinkly]

Let's see which motorways I've been on.

M1, M2, ....

Oh dear. Never been on the M2.

I had a friend at university whose dad avoided motorways and dual carriageways. I have no idea how long the journey took when the dad came up to collect the friend at the end of term: they were from Ipswich and the university was Lancaster!

Just in case anyone got the impression I avoid motorways, I've been on very nearly every GB motorway not beginning with 2, plus the M25 and M27.

[ScottB5411]

I've done them all, driven. I thought I'd never driven the A308 (M) and was going to leave it but I remember having driven it now

[chris486]

I've done them all, driven. I thought I'd never driven the A308 (M) and was going to leave it but I remember having driven it now

You'd have quite a journey if you'd overlooked the A308(M) and wanted to put it right. Have you done all (or near as all) of each motorway?

[tommym8]

Done them all in the UK mainland, including those no longer with us. Probably drove every bit of the M25 as it was being built. Was the southern section originally called the M26?

Reminds me of how long I've been driving

[Owain]

Just in case anyone got the impression I avoid motorways, I've been on very nearly every GB motorway not beginning with 2, plus the M25 and M27.

It did seem rather surprising that someone here would avoid them!

[Chris5156]

Done them all in the UK mainland, including those no longer with us. Probably drove every bit of the M25 as it was being built. Was the southern section originally called the M26?

No, only the M26 has ever been called the M26. The M25 predates it by six or seven years.

[wrinkly]

Done them all in the UK mainland, including those no longer with us. Probably drove every bit of the M25 as it was being built. Was the southern section originally called the M26?

No, only the M26 has ever been called the M26. The M25 predates it by six or seven years.

However, if you go back to when it was being planned, what is now the M26 was at one stage referred to as part of the M25. I remember seeing references to "M25 Godstone - Wrotham".

[Burns]

The A90 by comparison is very pretty compared to most D2 English roads but I should probably have looked for some brown signs to follow the coast instead of the A90.

If you're wanting to follow the coast, take the A92 out of Dundee instead and you'll have a good time as it's a great road to drive. If your first descent into Montrose is on a sunny day, you'll suddenly feel like you're on the west coast due to the size of the tidal basin with the Angus hills rising behind it.

I've never really been overly fond of the A90 north of Perth. Between the M90 and Dundee, I find it quite dull but that's probably because it's normally the last bit of road I have to drive when I've been on holiday and by that stage, I just want to get home. North of Dundee, the A90 does the job but I tend to take the A92 if I'm not in a hurry as the scenery is nicer and there's more to see along the way.

Staying on topic, I've driven all of the Scottish motorways, most of which in both directions as well as the M6 as far as Birmingham, all of the M61, about half of the M60 and the M62 between Manchester and the A1(M). The other, smaller sections of motorway I've driven probably aren't worth mentioning.

[Comstock]

A3(M),M271 in England and Wales.

Oops - not done those. Everyone has remembered my very local A57(M) and the A627(M), haven't they?

)

Yes done both of those. I actually rather like driving on urban motorways although for locals they must be a nightmare to live near and they are ugly as hell.....

[SC2]

I think they have a certain visual appeal actually, but I accept I am in the minority there

[c2R]

I drive for a living and have probably covered the best part of a million miles over the past 25 years or so, so have done every mile (and most junctions) of every motorway in England, Scotland, and Wales, and lay claim to the F99 as well.

I've also done every km of motorway in Ireland and Northern Ireland (though not every junction).

On the continent, I've driven all motorways in Luxembourg, Belgium, Finland, and Norway

Finally, I've done the majority of motorways in France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland.

[FosseWay]

As others have implied, whether you mean "driven on somewhere along its length" or "driven the whole length of" makes a significant difference to the answer.

Taking the first alternative, I believe I have driven on all the M-numbered motorways in GB and NI except the M77 and M49, and including the now defunct M10, M41, M63 and M85.

With Ax(M)-numbered motorways that are recognised as such on road signs, I think I am missing:

A57(M)
the one(s) in central Newcastle, whatever they're called this week
A194(M)
A66(M)
A329(M)

I also missed out on the A6144(M) but managed to bag the A40(M), A41(M) and A102(M) before they disappeared.

[roadtester]

I think over the years I've covered pretty much the whole network but I've never kept a precise record - do some people write it down in a little book or something?

Increasingly, though, I seek out alternatives, not because I dislike motorways but because I operate to a fairly leisurely timetable these days so I like to explore alternatives.

[OLD GIT]

like Roadtester, I've covered most of the UK mainland ( though I never kept a record) ,although some of the motorways go a lot further now than when I first drove them. I reckon that in almost 50 years on the road ,I've covered about 2.5M miles ,having parents living in the north of Scotland and being a service engineer in one or more capacities living in the Midlands for almost 30 years.

[Ben302]

I've done most of them in their entirety, the exceptions being:

Driven on parts

M18 J1-5 and J5-1
M180 Eastbound J1-3
M55 J1-3 both ways
M56 J3a-7 Westbound
M60 Anticlockwise J8-5 Clockwise J12-14
M61 Northbound Only
M62 Eastbound J10-12, J24-33 Westbound J33-24
M65 M6 to J7
M69 Leicester bound only
M77 J1 to M8
M898 Southbound only

Still yet to visit:

M53
M57
M58
A627M
M66
M67

[Johnathan404]

I have driven parts of all motorways in England and Wales except the M49 and the M50 - two very clear 'tangent' motorways for me.

[WHBM]

I don't think I've driven on the M50 for about 35 years. I presume it hasn't changed much.

By an amazing coincidence I drove the length of the M50, both ways, yesterday, moving on from Worcester to a place south of Hereford. Indeed it hasn't changed much. Two lane, no hard shoulder past bridges (including the long Severn viaduct at Tewkesbury). Some of the overbridges had stone-faced abutments, presumably original. It actually had more traffic midday than I expected. It reminded me somewhat of the older Autobahnen in Germany, with these features and decidedly short/right angled junctions. At least the nearby places were not all called Ausfahrt.

[multiraider2]

Just in case anyone got the impression I avoid motorways, I've been on very nearly every GB motorway not beginning with 2, plus the M25 and M27.

It did seem rather surprising that someone here would avoid them!

Rather shamefully for a supposed roads enthusiast, I haven't covered that much motorway in 32 years plus of driving.

M1. All to Central Leeds.
M2. All. Mostly all in one go.
M3. All
M4. All
M5. M6 to J4 and J15 to J31 only.
M6. All except for the Cumberland Gap section which wasn’t built.
M9. J9 to J11 only.
M10
M11. All
M20. All
M23 All in one go
M25 All in one go, save for spurs which done separately.
M26 All in one go
M27 J1 to J4 only
M40. All in one go, save for J8 spur which done separately and link to M42
M42 3a to J1 only
M48 From J2 to J21 of M4
M54 All
M73 All
M74 All
M80 All
M90 All except J10 to J11.
A1(M) All except for J39-J47 and J49-J51 which weren’t built.
A74(M) All.

But then, heresy! I don’t really like driving on motorways. There’s no beating them to cover big distances, but I just don’t.

[Potholes ate my car]

I've never driven on the M90...

I feel the M90 is a very underrated motorway so if you like good scenery, you'll enjoy a run up the M90. It's especially enjoyable to drive between Glenfarg and Perth.

I can highly recommend the M90 - I'm very glad I used it when I went to the far north.


The A90 by comparison is very pretty compared to most D2 English roads but I should probably have looked for some brown signs to follow the coast instead of the A90.

The M90 is scenic and a pretty good drive, apart from the concrete section around Kinross which causes horrendous road noise. The first few times I drove on it with my wife she kept asking if there was something wrong with the car.

I've driven most of the motorways in Scotland, in their entirety in both directions, apart from the new section of the M74 in Glasgow and the new (ish) section of the M80. I'm fairly sure I've done the whole length of the M73 although I'm not sure why.

In England I've done a lot less:

M6 from the border to the M61
M61 in its entirety
M60 in its entirety
M1 from Nottingham to Leeds

[BeenEverywhere]

Think I'm missing one of the Scottish ones, which is annoying because I love it up there, thing is I normally do Scotland on the bike so I take the long way most places should be full house on the rest though though, inc northern Ireland.