M11 motorway
M11 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
The M11 north of Cambridge | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by National Highways | ||||
Length | 55.0 mi (88.5 km) | |||
Existed | 1975–present | |||
History | Opened: 1975 Completed: 1980 | |||
Major junctions | ||||
Southwest end | South Woodford | |||
![]() ![]() M25 motorway | ||||
Northeast end | Girton | |||
Location | ||||
Country | Primary destinations London | Harlow Stansted Airport Cambridge | ||
Road network | ||||
|
The M11 is a 55 miles (89 km)
Route
The M11 starts in South Woodford in northeast London, just north of Redbridge Roundabout, crosses the
The motorway starts with two lanes southbound and three northbound; then, north of
History
Planning
Plans for an 'Eastern Avenue' in London had been proposed as early as 1915, and the Eastern Avenue Extension was causing local concern in Leyton and Hackney during the late 1950s and early 1960s.[1] It was opposed by a number of groups, including the Hackney Society[2] and local residents as represented by their member of parliament in 1962.[3]
By 1966, the
There were three proposed routes from the inner to outer ringway (North Circular) at the base of the current M11 and it is unclear which one was favoured.[4]
Under one scheme, south of
It was announced in March 1975 that from junction 8 (Bishops Stortford/Stansted exit) to the northern terminus, (thus including the Cambridge western bypass) would not be "constructed to M1 standard".[5] This was another way of stating that, following a change in government policy, this section would comprise two rather than three lanes in each direction.[5]
Additions
The M11 Link Road, or more formally 'A12 Hackney to M11 link road' (in fact leading to the North Circular) was constructed during the 1990s from
A new junction 7a was opened on 10 June 2022. The stated aims for this development are:[7][8]
- Create a new east–west link, which will move traffic smoothly out of Harlow on to the M11
- Reduce congestion on the north–south links through Harlow and towards junction 7
- Create new public transport and sustainable travel opportunities
- Provide new opportunities for housing and business developments.
Abortive/suspended proposals
Junction 5
An official plan to add north-facing connections at junction 5 in Debden, Loughton was abandoned in 1998.[9]
Junctions 6 to 8
![]() A map showing the 2009 proposal for widening of the M11 and surrounding road proposals | |
Location | Essex |
---|---|
Proposer | Highways Agency |
Status | suspended |
Type | road |
Cost estimate | £698 million (2007) |
Geometry | KML |
The Highways Agency tabled proposals to upgrade the M11, between junction 6 and 8, from three lanes plus hard shoulder to four each way with an estimated cost of £698 million given in 2007.[10] A number of public consultations were made throughout 2007[11] and although efforts were made to limit environmental damage the scheme would cause disruption and loss of habitat to three designated ecological areas and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Gernon Bushes.[12]Maps of the proposal and previously discounted options were published by the Highways Agency. Plans were abandoned in March 2009 when the Secretary of State for Transport announced that no changes would be made to this section of motorway before 2021.[13]
Construction
The motorway was opened in stages. The stretch between junctions 7 and 8 opened in 1975, and that between junctions 4 and 7 in 1977.[n 3] The stretch from junctions 8 to 9 opened in 1979; that between junctions 9 and 14 in 1980; and the full length becoming fully operational in February 1980.[15][16]
Budgets were tight during the 1970s when the road was built, so the
Services
The motorway's first, and only, service station, Birchanger Green Services at junction 8, opened in 1996. The services also serve the A120, a major high-speed dual-carriageway road, running from junction 8A to the eastern fringe of Braintree, it continues on to Colchester as a busy single-carriageway road.[17]
There had been plans for a service station on the motorway as long ago as 1969, named
Operation
From the late 1990s onward, the concrete surface that had greatly degraded was progressively replaced with standard layers of tarmac, and drainage improvements were implemented at the same time. This work was completed in June 2008.
Junction 8A for the A120 road and Stansted Airport opened in December 2002.
Proposed developments
By way of complementary plans for
M11 and A120 interchange – Stansted generation 2 airport access
![]() A map showing the proposed road development at the entry to Stansted Airport. | |
Location | Essex |
---|---|
Proposer | Highways Agency |
Status | suspended |
Type | Road |
Cost estimate | £131 million |
A joint scheme involving works on junctions on the M11 and
Incidents
Plane crash
On 2 June 2002, a brake failure on an
Snow storm
In January 2003, thousands of motorists became stranded on "White Friday" for up to 20 hours between junctions 7 and 9 during a snowstorm.[30]
Junctions
![]() | This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table.(December 2021) |
Data from
M11 motorway junctions | |||||
mile | km | Southbound exits (B carriageway) | Junction | Northbound exits (A carriageway) | Coordinates |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
7.5 | 12.1 | A406 South
|
J4 | Start of motorway | 51°35′52″N 0°02′38″E / 51.5978°N 0.0438°E |
Entering Greater London | Entering Essex | ||||
11.4 | 18.4 | No access | J5 | A1168
|
51°38′25″N 0°05′03″E / 51.6404°N 0.0842°E |
14.7 | 23.6 | Watford, Oxford, Heathrow Airport, M1, M40, M4 M25(W) Gatwick Airport, Dartford Crossing, M23, M20 M25(E) |
J6 | Watford, Oxford, Heathrow Airport, M1, M40, M4 M25(W)
Gatwick Airport, Dartford Crossing, M23, M20 M25(E) |
51°40′46″N 0°07′30″E / 51.6794°N 0.1250°E |
19.1 | 30.7 | Chelmsford, Harlow A414 | J7 | Harlow A414 | 51°44′36″N 0°08′16″E / 51.7432°N 0.1377°E |
22.6 | 36.3 | Harlow A1025 | J7A | Harlow A1025 | 51°47′19″N 0°10′13″E / 51.7886°N 0.1704°E |
28.9 | 46.5 | Stansted A120
|
J8 Services |
Bishop's Stortford, Services A120(W) | 51°52′18″N 0°11′57″E / 51.8717°N 0.1992°E |
29.2 | 47.0 | No access | J8A | Stansted, Colchester A120(E) | 51°52′08″N 0°11′50″E / 51.8689°N 0.1972°E |
Entering Essex | Entering Cambridgeshire | ||||
43.3 | 69.7 | No access | J9 | Newmarket, Norwich, Ipswich M11 (A11). | 52°03′31″N 0°11′21″E / 52.0587°N 0.1891°E |
29.2 | 47.0 | No access | J9A | Saffron Walden, Cambridge South, Haverhill A1301, B184, B1383. Spur continues as A11. | 52°04′33″N 0°11′35″E / 52.0759°N 0.1931°E |
45.9 | 73.9 | Saffron Walden, Duxford, Haverhill, Suffolk A505 | J10 | Royston, Duxford A505 | 52°05′55″N 0°08′17″E / 52.0986°N 0.1381°E |
50.8 | 81.7 | J11 | Harston | 52°09′37″N 0°06′12″E / 52.1602°N 0.1034°E | |
53.4 | 85.9 | Cambridge, A603
|
J12 | Cambridge, Sandy A603 | 52°11′22″N 0°04′27″E / 52.1894°N 0.0743°E |
55.1 | 88.6 | No access | J13 | Cambridge, A1303
|
52°12′42″N 0°04′39″E / 52.2118°N 0.0776°E |
56.2 | 90.4 | St Neots A428 | J14 | Newmarket A14
Ely (A10) |
52°13′50″N 0°04′15″E / 52.2306°N 0.0707°E |
Start of motorway, Non-motorway traffic: Cambridge, A14
|
Road continues north as A14 towards The Midlands, which then becomes the M6 motorway towards The North West, and finally, the A74(M) in Scotland, and ends in Glasgow .
|
52°14′25″N 0°03′29″E / 52.2404°N 0.0581°E |
In popular culture
Life in the Fast Lane: The No M11 Story (1995) is a documentary film that recounts the story of the No M11 Campaign.
See also
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ An expressway inner circular, referred to as the London Motorway Box
- ^ as the A12 which then continues to the east to Chelmsford and Colchester
- ^ Constructed to the south of the not-yet built M25 interchange by W. & C. French Engineering, and to its north by Dowsett Engineering Construction Ltd of Harrogate[14]
- References
- ^ "Leyton – Introduction". British History. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "History". Hackney Society. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "Eastern Avenue Extension". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 8 May 1962. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Histories – Ringways – Northern Radials – M11". CBRD. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Motorweek: Three lanes to two". Motor. 22 March 1975. p. 25.
- ^ "nce". Retrieved 28 December 2009.
- ^ "M11 Junction 7a". Essex County Council. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
- ^ "New M11 junction hopes to reduce Harlow congestion". BBC News website. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ "Taking Road Safety to the Extreme". 15 August 1998. Retrieved 2 February 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^
"M11 Junctions 6 to 8 Improvements Original Proposal". Highways Agency. Archived from the originalon 1 December 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^
"M11 Junctions 6 to 8 Improvements". Highways Agency. Archived from the originalon 15 October 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ a b
"M11 Junctions 6 to 8 Improvements Spring 2007 Consultation" (PDF). Highways Agency. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ "Road and rail capacity (East of England)". Department for Transport. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009.
- ^ "The Motorway Archive". Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
- ^ "M11". CBRD. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ "M11 chronology map". CBRD. Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ Good Stuff IT Services. "Birchanger Green Services M11 | Information and Facilities | Motorway Services". Motorwayservices.info. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ^ "Chigwell services - Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki". sabre-roads.org.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
- ^ "Unbuilt Services". Motorway Services Online. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- BAA. Archived from the original(PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ a b
"Stansted Generation 2 Airport Access from M11 and A120" (PDF). Highways Agency. Archived from the original(PDF) on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^
"Appraisal Summary Table: Airport Access Roads" (PDF). Highways Agency. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ "Stansted G2 Inquiry Pre-Inqury Meeting". Planning Inspectorate. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ "Stansted G2 Inquiry". Planning Inspectorate. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ "Stansted G2 Public Inquiry" (PDF). Planning Inspectorate. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^
"M11 and A120 Stansted Generation 2 Airport Access". Highways Agency. Archived from the originalon 16 October 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
- ^ "Motorway reopened after jet crash". BBC News. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ^ "Duxford Airfield". Duxford.iwm.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ^ "Accident Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
- ^ BBC – Thousands trapped in snow storm, 31 January 2003
- ^ Driver Location Signs (map) Highway Authority 2009
External links
Geographic data related to M11 motorway at OpenStreetMap
- CBRD Motorway Database – M11
- The Motorway Archive – M11
- "Stansted M11 Corridor Study". Colin Buchanan Partners. December 2003. p. 137. Archived from the original on 17 September 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2010.