Britain's shortest motorway is in ????

[Loiner1960]

Reviving an old thread but possibly Englands shortest motorway might not be a motorway at all.Many years ago by the Woodhouse Road car park, at the entrance to the slip road that took you onto the A58(M), there was a motorway regulations sign.Banned from entering the Inner Ring road were the following. Horse drawn vehicles, 50cc Restricted mopeds, Learner drivers, cyclists and Agricultural vehicles. The signs have long since disappeared and the only indication that this is a motorway are the signs with blue backgrounds and white lettering.So along the Inner Ring Road go learner drivers, both car and PTW. The large tractors used by LCC to cut the grass. Even seen during la tour a cyclist coming out of the tunnels and then going to the Vicar Lane turn off. I await a tatters horse and cart or even a lost pedestrian wandering onto the motorway.It was originally envisaged to have a national speed limit, 70mph. But the cost of hard shoulders both sides and central barriers put off the 60's LCC. So as per usual a degraded motorway was built. 40mph being fast for the cars in the 60's. Keeping an eye out.. "Rag and Bone!"

[mhoulden]

Strangely enough, back in July I was using the inner ring road westbound one lunchtime and got stuck in traffic even worse than usual. I was in the right hand lane which was going slightly faster and eventually overtook a funeral procession led by a horse drawn hearse. I've no idea who it was, but it was quite an ostentatious affair with the carriage containing the coffin and a more standard motor hearse full of wreaths including one that I think said "DADDY".

[Croggy1]

All very interesting. Had to do some more research and came across this:http://www.ciht.org.uk/motorway/stats.htm"There are a number of motorways which are 1 mile (1.6 km) or less in length. There have been conflicting claims on this subject, but it now appears that the A635(M), which is joined to the A57(M), Mancunian Way, is the shortest at about 300 metres long."Of course, that can't be accurate because it is the wrong county!

[raveydavey]

Loiner1960 wrote: Reviving an old thread but possibly Englands shortest motorway might not be a motorway at all.Many years ago by the Woodhouse Road car park, at the entrance to the slip road that took you onto the A58(M), there was a motorway regulations sign.Banned from entering the Inner Ring road were the following. Horse drawn vehicles, 50cc Restricted mopeds, Learner drivers, cyclists and Agricultural vehicles. The signs have long since disappeared and the only indication that this is a motorway are the signs with blue backgrounds and white lettering.So along the Inner Ring Road go learner drivers, both car and PTW. The large tractors used by LCC to cut the grass. Even seen during la tour a cyclist coming out of the tunnels and then going to the Vicar Lane turn off. I await a tatters horse and cart or even a lost pedestrian wandering onto the motorway.It was originally envisaged to have a national speed limit, 70mph. But the cost of hard shoulders both sides and central barriers put off the 60's LCC. So as per usual a degraded motorway was built. 40mph being fast for the cars in the 60's. Keeping an eye out.. "Rag and Bone!" There are still signs at both ends designating it as a motorway and directing "non-motorway" traffic off. The Prohibited Vehicles motorways signs have disappeared from virtually all motorways over the years - I drive a lot of miles and couldn't tell you last time I saw one on a slip road or at the change from A road to M-way.That said, I do think a blind eye is turned to the abuse of the regulations on the A64(M) and A58(M) (much like the ban on ordinary cars on the central section of The Headrow) - which must at least be due to the near abandonment of roads policing that has taken place over the last decade or so.As for the Lancastrians trying to steal the A64(M)'s title, don't forget that one carriageway (westbound I think...) is considerably shorter than the other so we should be able to ignore their shenanigans.And don't forget that Leeds is home to the UKs primary motorway, the M1 which starts here and goes down south somewhere, alongside the UKs highest numbered motorway, the M621.

[Barwicker]

Sorry, the M621 is not the UK's highest numbered Motorway. That is the M876 running between the M8 & M9 in Scotland

[raveydavey]

Barwicker wrote: Sorry, the M621 is not the UK's highest numbered Motorway. That is the M876 running between the M8 & M9 in Scotland Sorry, you are quite right - I should have typed "England's" not "UK's".

[Keg]

Which i used a couple of weeks ago!There is a superb series now available on youtube called " The secret life of the Motorway"It's brilliant and episode 2 covers our very own M62 and the "Little House on the prairie" myth.As an aside, i travel over a lot of the uk and recently did a straw pole and 99% of drivers who sit obliviously in the middle lane also had their sat nav plonked right in the middle of the windscreen, smack in their field of view..