M25 motorway

UK motorway routebox
|
motorway= M25
length-mi= 117
length-km= 188
direction= Circular (London Orbital)
start= Hawley (near Dartford) (A2)
destinations= London
Dartford
Sevenoaks
Reigate
Esher
Staines
Heathrow Airport
end= West Thurrock (A13)
opening-date= 1975
completion-date= 1986
junctions= 3 -
misc =

"To see information about the M25 motorway under construction in Ireland, see N25 road."

The M25 motorway is a 117 mile (188 km) orbital motorway which encircles Greater London, United Kingdom. It is one of the busiest stretches of the British motorway network, and almost completely encircles London; the gap is formed in the east, with the Dartford Crossing or the A282, linking two sides of the River Thames. It is said to be one of the longest city bypasses in the world [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m25j13j30.htm] . In Europe, the M25 is the second-longest ring road after the Berlin Ring (A 10) which is longer by 5 miles (8 km).

Description

The signs are indicating a reduced speed limit due to congestion] For the majority of its length the motorway has six lanes (three in each direction), although there are a few short stretches under junctions which are four-lane and the stretch from junctions 12 to 6 and areas around Dartford are eight lane. The motorway was widened to ten lanes between junctions 12 and 14, and twelve lanes between junctions 14 and 15, in November 2005. The Highways Agency has plans to widen almost all of the remaining stretches of the M25 to eight lanes with the exception of between junctions 3-5 although that stretch is sometimes very busy.

It is one of Europe's busiest motorways, with 196,000 vehicles a day recorded in 2003 between junctions 13 and 14 near London Heathrow Airport ( [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3558822.stm] ), which is however significantly fewer than the 257,000 vehicles a day recorded in 2002 on the A4 motorway at Saint-Maurice, in the suburbs of Paris ( [http://www.senat.fr/cra/s20021217/s20021217H4.html] ), the 216,000 vehicles a day recorded in 1998 on the A 100 motorway near the Funkturm in Berlin ( [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesautobahn_100] ) or the tangential motorway A23 in the southeast of Vienna, which is used by more than 200,000 vehicles on an average day ( [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn_S%C3%BCdosttangente_Wien] )

The M25 is not a continuous loop. To the east of London, the toll crossing of the Thames between Thurrock and Dartford is the lesser grade A282. The Dartford Crossing, which consists of two tunnels and the QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) bridge, is named "Canterbury Way". Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a toll, dependent upon the type of vehicle. Designating this stretch as a motorway would mean that traffic not permitted to use motorways could not cross the Thames east of Woolwich.

At junction 5 near Sevenoaks, a driver continuing around the M25 in either direction must follow the slip roads, as the anticlockwise carriageway continues as the M26 to the east (towards the M20) and the clockwise as the A21 towards the south coast.

The road passes through several police force areas. Junctions 1–5 are in Kent, 6–14 in Surrey (passing in places through Greater London and Berkshire), 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire, 17–24 are in Hertfordshire, 25 in Greater London (the Hertfordshire border going around the junction's northern edge), 26–28 in Essex, 29 in Greater London and 30–31 in Essex. Policing the road is carried out by an integrated policing group made up of the Metropolitan, Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces.

The distance of the motorway from central London (taken as Charing Cross) varies from approximately 12 miles (20 km) near Potters Bar to 20 miles (32 km) near Byfleet. In some places (Enfield, Hillingdon and Havering) the Greater London boundary has been realigned to the M25 for minor stretches; while in others, most notably in Essex and Surrey, it is many miles distant. Major towns such as Epsom, Watford, and Loughton are within the M25. North Ockendon is the only settlement of Greater London situated outside the M25. In 2004, following an opinion poll, a move was mooted by the London Assembly to align the Greater London boundary with the M25. [ Any such move would be bound to be resisted by the communities affected including such major towns as Watford, Loughton and Epsom. [http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release_a.jsp?releaseid=3002 London Assembly] - "Poll says M25 is London's "natural boundary". 2 March 2004.]

The three service areas are located in the central north (Junction 23 South Mimms), south east (Clacket Lane) and central east (Thurrock).

History

The idea of an orbital road around London was first proposed early in the 20th century and was re-examined a number of times during the first half of the 20th century in plans such as Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Guy Blunden, "The Highway Development Survey", 1937 and Sir Patrick Abercrombie's "County of London Plan, 1943" and "Greater London Plan, 1944". Abercrombie's plan proposed a series of five roads encircling the capital.

In the post-war years little was done to implement Abercrombie's plans but in the 1960s the Greater London Council developed an ambitious plan for a network of ring roads around the capital. The London Ringways plan was hugely controversial due to the destruction required for the inner two ring roads and the enormous anticipated cost. The plan was modified a number of times to overcome opposition from the residents of threatened areas and the government, but was cancelled in 1973. Parts of the two outer ring roads, Ringways 3 and 4, were begun in 1973 and became the first two sections of the M25 to open in 1975 (junction 23 to junction 24) and 1976 (junction 6 to junction 8).The M16 motorway was the designation planned in the late 1960s and early 1970s for use on Ringway 3, a new motorway planned as part of the London Ringways Plan to run a circular route around London.

Construction of the first section of the M16 began in 1973 between South Mimms and Potters Bar in Hertfordshire and opened in September 1975 with the temporary general purpose road designation A1178. During construction of the first section of the motorway, the majority of the Ringways plan was cancelled and, in 1975 the plans for Ringway 3 were modified to combine it with parts of another motorway, Ringway 4, the outermost Ringway.

The M16 designation was dropped and the combined motorway was given the designation M25 which had originally been intended for the southern and western part of Ringway 4. The section of Ringway 3 west of South Mimms anti-clockwise around London to Swanley in Kent was cancelled and the section clockwise from Potters Bar to the Dartford Tunnel was constructed between 1979 and 1982. The section of Ringway 3 south of the river between Dartford and Swanley was constructed between 1974 and 1977.

Construction of the M25 continued in stages until its completion in 1986. The stages were not constructed contiguously but in small sections, such as Dartford to Swanley (junction 1 to junction 3) and Potters Bar to Enfield (junction 24 to junction 25). As the orbital road developed the sections were linked. Each section was presented to planning authorities in its own right and was individually justified, with almost 40 public inquiries relating to sections of the route. Maps at this time depicting these short sections named the route as the M16 but this changed before completion. The northern sections of the M25 follow a similar route to the World War II Outer London Defence Ring.

The M25 was officially opened on 29 October 1986 with a ceremony by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who opened the section between J22 and J23 (London Colney and South Mimms).

The initial tenders for the construction of the M25 totalled £631.9 million. This did not include compulsory purchase of land and subsequent upgrades and repairs.

More recently, the perennially congested south-western stretch of the M25 (near Woking) has been fitted with an experimental automated traffic control system called Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling (MIDAS). This consists of a distributed network of traffic and weather sensors, speed cameras and variable-speed signs that control traffic speeds with little human supervision, but has done little to alleviate traffic problems.

A precursor of the M25 was the "North Orbital Road" (see A414 road).

Improvements

When built the section of the M25 from just west of Junction 25 (A10/Waltham Cross) through to the eastern end of the Holmsdale Tunnel had only 2 lanes for motorway traffic. This was found to cause hold-ups at peak times as the majority of traffic approaching the junction did not leave the motorway. As a result a series of works, which were completed ahead of schedule in late 2007, have increased the number of lanes through this section from 2 to 3 in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. This work also included extending the Holmsdale Tunnel to the east.

In summer 2007 work started on widening the exit slip-roads in both directions at Junction 28 (A12/Brentwood). This is intended to reduce the amount of traffic queueing on the slip roads at busy periods, particularly traffic from the clockwise M25 joining the northbound A12 where the queue can extend onto the inside lane of the Motorway. The works included a dedicated left-turn lane from the M25 clockwise exit slip road to the A12 entry slip road. These works were completed in February 2008.

Proposed improvements

The Highways Agency is proposing to widen 63 miles of M25 from six lanes to eight lanes, from junctions 5-7 and 16-30 at a cost of over £5 billion. [cite web|url=http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/climate_change/roads/proposals|title=Roads - proposals|publisher=Campaign for Better Transport|accessdate=2008-01-20] The Highways agency offering the contract on a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) basis. [cite web|url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/7717.aspx
title=Prequalification Document
publisher=Highways Agency
accessdate=2008-01-20] A shortlist of contractors was announced in October 2006, [cite web
url=http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/2006/10/13/52504/highways-agency-announces-shortlist-for-4.5bn-m25-dbfo.html
title=Highways Agency announces shortlist for £4.5bn M25 DBFO
publisher=Contract Journal
accessdate=2008-01-20] however contractors were then asked to resubmit their bids in January 2008. [cite web
url=http://www.cnplus.co.uk/News/2008/01/highways_agency_calls_for_m25_widening_bids_to_be_resubmitted.html
title=Highways Agency calls for M25 widening bids to be resubmitted
publisher=Construction Journal
date=2008-01-16
author=Andrea Klettner
accessdate=2008-01-20]

Illuminated sections

Large sections of the M25 are illuminated with the aim of reducing accidents on the road. The current illuminated sections are Dartford to junction 2, junction 5, junctions 6 to 16, junctions 18 to 21A, and junctions 23 to 31. It is thought that when the widening of the M25 is completed junctions 3 to 5 will be the only area unlit, as this is the quietest part of the M25. The type of lights on the M25 varies, with some of the sections using the older yellow low-pressure sodium (SOX) lighting, and others with modern high-pressure sodium (SON) lighting.

Some stretches have recently been upgraded to SON. These include Junction 5, junctions around Heathrow and 27.

Junctions

Map

Racing

The orbital nature of the motorway, in common with racetracks, lent itself to unofficial, and illegal, motor racing. At the end of the 1980s, before the advent of speed enforcement devices, owners of supercars, many employed in the financial service industry in the City and in Docklands, would meet at night at services stations such as South Mimms and conduct time trials. Times below 1 hour were achieved; an average speed of over 117 mph (188.3 km/h), which included coming to a halt at the Dartford Tunnel toll payment booths. [cite web | last = May | first = James
authorlink = James May | title = Speed, Greed And The M25
publisher = BBC Radio 4 | date = 20 October 2007
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/pip/ap895/?focuswin] [cite press release | title = Programme Information – Network Radio Week 43 | publisher = BBC Press Office |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/radio/wk43/sat.shtml]

Public awareness and references in popular culture

The M25 (including the A282 Dartford Crossing) is known for its frequent traffic jams. These have been the subject of so much comment from such an early stage that even at the official opening ceremony Margaret Thatcher complained about "those who carp and criticise". The jams have inspired jokes ("the world's biggest car park", "the London Orbital Car Park"), songs (Chris Rea's "The Road to Hell"Fact|date=April 2007) and the following tongue-in-cheek theory:

This is because (in the book) the M25 was actually moulded by demonic forces during its planning so as to resemble, from space, a mystic demonic sigil.

In Episode 12 of Primeval, a Colombian mammoth appears here.

The M25 was also mentioned in the popular British sketch comedy show, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. In a sketch featuring Dominic Appleguard, the title character, played by Fry, is shown to be mentally different. After stating, "you can always trust him with a peony and a cod," and showing Stephen Fry holding a cod over two large red peonies and rocking it in his arms like a baby, Hugh Laurie's voice over continues, "Dominic Applebottom designed the M25."

The road enjoyed a more positive reputation among ravers in the late 1980s as the then new Orbital Motorway was a popular route to the parties that took place around the outskirts of London. One act, Orbital, even took its name from the motorway. [http://www.last.fm/music/Orbital]

References

*Iain Sinclair, "London Orbital: A Walk Around the M25", 2002, Granta Books, ISBN 1-86207-547-6
*Roy Phippen, "Travelling M25 Clockwise", 2005, Pallas Athene, ISBN 1-873429-90-8
*Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, "Good Omens", Pages 13-14, 2006, William Morrow, New York, ISBN 0-06-085396-4

imilar roads

* Baltimore I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway)
* Berlin A10
* Boston Massachusetts Route 128, the Yankee Division Highway
* Campinas (São Paulo, Brazil) Anel Viário José Magalhães Teixeira
* Chicago I-294 (most of) the Tri-State Tollway in the U.S. state of Illinois
* Dublin M50
* Johannesburg Ring Road (N1, N3, N12)
* Lisbon Circular Regional Interna de Lisboa [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC17]
* Madrid M30
* Manchester M60
* Mexico City Anillo Periférico
* Moscow MKAD
* New York/New Jersey I-287 in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey
* Paris Périphérique
* Paris A86 autoroute
* Porto Via de Cintura Interna [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRIP]
* Rome Grande Raccordo Anulare
* Santiago [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avenida_Circunvalaci%C3%B3n_Am%C3%A9rico_Vespucio Avenida Americo Vespucio]
* São Paulo Rodoanel Mário Covas
* Toronto Highway 407 ETR
* Washington I-495 (the Capital Beltway)

External links

*Highways Agency – [http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/basicRPSearch.aspx/ Roadworks]
*Highways Agency – [http://www.highways.gov.uk/traffic/traffic.aspx Current Traffic Information]
*Highways Agency – [http://www.dartfordrivercrossing.co.uk/drc/aboutf.htm Dartford – Thurrock River Crossing]
* [http://www.iht.org/motorway/londonm25.htm The Motorway Archive's M25 page]
* [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/m25/ CBRD M25 Motorway Database]
* [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/histories/openingbooklets/ CBRD M25 Opening Booklet]
*My-M25.co.uk Forum [http://www.my-m25.co.uk/Forum/ Forum for the many millions of M25 users to share information]