Myths and Fallacies

As more research into the history of the UK road network has taken place, some of the earlier theories and suggestions that have been posted on SABRE have been proven false or otherwise discredited. This page highlights some of these errors and myths.

Myths

Bank Numbering Hub

• Myth: Bank Station was the original hub of the numbering system for England and Wales.
• Origin: In the early days of SABRE, people didn't realise that the original numbers didn't penetrate the City, and so there is a whole pile of "facts" built up about the "original" routes where there just aren't any - and not only that, people tried to figure out a single spot for the "hub", and hence the commonly-quoted Bank as a best-guess option.
• Reality: Bank Station was not the numbering hub. Such a thing doesn't exist.

M41 London-Birmingham Motorway

• Myth: The M41 was part of a bigger London-Birmingham corridor that was replaced by the M40.
• Origin: Usenet. A theory was posted that given there was an A41(M) at Tring, and the M41 in West London, that the two were somehow related. A bit of additional creativity came up with the solution that the M40 was extended to meet the supposed M41 route near Bicester.
• Reality: The A41(M) was designed as a commuter radial between Ringway 4 and the Aylesbury region only. The M41 was known to be part of the West Cross Route. The two were never planned to connect. As for the M40, the sharp turn north of J8 is simply to avoid a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

David Craig Numbers

See also David Craig Number

• Myth: All three and four digit road numbers are based off the two roads they connect.
• Origin: David Craig, on his website discussing the A361 spotted the A404 and noted it connected the A40 to the A4. A further comment introduced the M621, the only other bona-fide example of this theory.
• Reality: Road numbers are allocated in zones, there is no requirement for them to connect two roads. The M621 was originally to be the M65, so this number came about when the decision was taken to utilise three digit motorway numbers. The A404 originally ended on the A413 to the east of Old Amersham and did not end on the A4 until the 1935 Road numbering revision.

South Coast Motorway

• Myth: The M27 was planned to go from Folkestone to the M5 or even, in some variants, Penzance.
• Origin: Various. The assumption is the South Coast Trunk Route would be a motorway for its entire length due to MOT documentation refering to the M27 as the South Coast Motorway. A 1930s motorway network proposal had a line along the south coast and this is also used as evidence, but those plans were lobbying the Government rather than from it.
• Reality: The M27 was to connect the A31 at the edge of the New Forest to Chichester. This route exists today, though east of Portsmouth it is all purpose A27. The remainder of the South Coast Trunk Route (Folkestone - Honiton) has had piecemeal upgrades, notably the Brighton Bypass. There neither is, nor was, a plan for a coherent expressway style route along this corridor.

A36(M)

• Myth: The short spur from the M27 at Junction 2 to the A36 was numbered A36(M).
• Origin: SABRE. It was suggested that someone remembered this as A36(M). No proof has ever been found. A contemporary 1:10000 Ordnance Survey map from the mid 1970s shows the spur marked as M27, before the A326 Marchwood Bypass was constructed.
• Reality: Until a relevant Statutory Instrument is found, this remains unproven and assumed to be a myth. The completion of the Marchwood Bypass to the south removed the motorway anyway.

Stott Hall Farm, M62

• Myth: The M62 carriageways split around a farm because its owner refused to move.
• Origin: Various. Particularly television documentaries that really ought to know better.
• Reality: The M62 over the Pennines is constructed over very weak ground consisting mostly of peat bogs. In the vicinity of Stott Hall Farm, the weight of two parallel carriageways would have caused settlement of dangerous levels affecting the carriageway (similar to the problems faced between Warrington and Salford). By splitting the carriageways the weight was spread and as a by-product, the farm was retained. Access is via two culverts under the motorway.

TfL and Motorways

• Myth: Transport for London has no legal authority to operate motorways
• Origin: Various. Based on the downgrading of the M41, A40(M) and A102(M) about the same time that TfL took over responsibility for all trunk roads in Greater London, save the M1, M4, M11 and M25.
• Reality: Like all other authorities, TfL can maintain motorways (as Lancashire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Portsmouth and Wokingham currently do). The motorways were downgraded in 1998, whereas acts defining TfL's remit weren't drawn up until 1999 - which specified that the GLA could make any non-trunk road in Greater London part of the TfL network (trunk roads that would form part of the network defined in 2000 were handed over when TfL was created later that year)

M11 junction 5 at Loughton, Essex

• Myth: The M11 junction at Loughton has no north-facing slips to prevent any robbers from the adjacent Bank of England money printing plant making a quick getaway into the country.
• Origin: Widespread story, especially from residents of the nearby towns.
• Reality*: Initial traffic analysis showed that if there were north-facing slips, the surrounding low-capacity outer-suburbs road network would have been completely overwhelmed by traffic between much of NE London and the M11/M25. South-facing slips do not have this issue because apart from the immediate locality, much of the land around and northwards is undeveloped green belt, and does not generate much traffic, as is shown by the off-slip ending in simple Give Way.

Fallacies

M3 Exeter Motorway

• Fallacy: The M3 was planned to go to Exeter.
• Origin: Documents referring to the M3 as Exeter Radial. This even found its way into educational texts in the 1960s, one Geography textbook in particular (noted for accuracy as it featured a lengthy discussion about the North Cross Route), asked why the M3, when extended to Exeter, would be underused during winter.
• Reality: The M3 was always planned to head towards Southampton, with the A303 taking traffic to the South West. The title Exeter Radial was purely planning speak, much like the M23 Brighton Motorway, which has always ended at Crawley.

M42 Junction 3A

• Fallacy: The fact there is a Junction 3A on the M42 means that the M40 was meant to meet the M5.
• Origin: An offshoot of the M41 myth above, this one suggested the junction numbering of the M42 was temporary or somehow miscounted.
• Reality: The M42 was always going to be part of the Birmingham Motorway Box. However, the original junction numbers did not take into account the proposed extensions either to the south of Birmingham or to the north of the M6. It seems to be known only to those responsible for the highway design why 3A exists, much like Junction 21A on the M25. There is little evidence of the M40 being planned beyond its existing terminus, and none once the motorway began to be built.

Motorway design standards

• Fallacy: A motorway can only be a motorway if it meets stringent design standards.
• Origin: Personal expectation of the average road user.
• Reality: A motorway is a purely legal term. As such there is zero requirement for it to be controlled-access. What motorway status does is prevent the corridor from becoming a right of way that allows full use by everyone. Instead, it means that everything is prohibited unless specifically allowed to use the road. This has no bearing on the standard of the road and should be taken into account when questioning why the A27 and A2, despite being built to the so-called motorway standards are not designated as motorways. Similarly, the A6144(M) was a single carriageway road, but had the appropriate traffic orders applied to make it a motorway.