M10 motorway (Great Britain)

UK motorway routebox
motorway= M10
length-mi= 2.8
length-km= 4.5
direction= West – East
start= Hemel Hempstead
destinations= None
end= St Albans
opening-date= 1959
completion-date=entire motorway
junctions= The M10 is a motorway in Hertfordshire. It is around 3 miles (4.5 km) long. It runs from the M1 motorway at Junction 7 to the A414 North Orbital road at Park Street roundabout.

History

The road opened in 1959. This section was designed and constructed by Tarmac Construction [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1eastamat.htm Motorway archive list of material held by Northamptonshire CC] ] as part of the St Albans bypass (along with the M1 junctions 5–10a) [ [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/m10/ CBRD Motorway Database - M10] ] . It was a spur built to distribute the traffic heading south on the M1 [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1m10m45.htm The Motorway Archive] ] onto the A5 (now A5183) and, as an alternative, via the North Orbital Road and the A6 to the A1 Barnet Bypass. The main route from the M1 to the A1 in London was however via the A41 Watford bypass to Berrygrove. Two distributors were required because the capacity of the A roads was much less than that of the motorway, and the traffic therefore needed to be split up to avoid congestion at each end which would have rendered the motorway useless. The M45 is the equivalent road at the northern end of the 1959 section of M1.

Future plans

With the widening of the M1 between the M25 and Luton, the M10 is due to be downgraded to an A road, with collector distributor lanes linking directly to the next junction (no.8) for Hemel Hempstead. As traffic can now get to junction 8 of the M1 without actually joining it, there is no need to keep the M10 as a motorway. The M10 will become part of the A414, [ [http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/documents/Web_Portal_version.pdf Highways Agency Leaflet (PDF)] ] though restrictions will still apply.Whilst it has been suggested that the designation M10 is being retained for the A1(M) if this is ever completed as a through route, this has not been confirmed. [ [http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11315&highlight=m10 SABRE Discussion Topic] ]

Junctions

ee also

*List of motorways in the United Kingdom

References

External links

* [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/m10/ CBRD Motorway Database - M10]
* [http://pathetic.org.uk/current/m10/ Pathetic Motorways - M10]
* [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1m10m45.htm The Motorway Archive - M1/M10/M45]