how many miles of motorway is there in the uk?

Answer 1

You must be really bored.

Answer 2

Motorways only - 2099 Miles


Click this link to see database on all M roads in the UK:

http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/navigatebylist.shtml


Example below...........

M25

Officially named the London Orbital, nicknamed the 'Road to Hell', and frequently derided as nothing more than a very big car park, this is London's outermost beltway, the world's biggest ring road - the M25.

Despite all this, the M25 isn't even a full circle. The Dartford Crossing (comprising the Dartford Tunnels and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge) over the Thames in the east and its approach roads are designated A282, because the first Tunnel was built in the 1960s as a local connection. A second tunnel was added, and because it was a dual carriageway, 1980s planners considered it eminently suitable for routing the M25 through. It remained A282 nonetheless, and has since been adorned with a bridge to double its capacity.

It's not just the biggest ring road in the world, it has other accolades. This was the most expensive motorway Britain ever built, coming in at a total of £909m in eleven years, or roughly £7.5m per mile. Since then it hasn't exactly been cheap to maintain, with a cable stayed bridge to double up capacity at Dartford, countless widening schemes and now expensive things like Variable Speed Limits in desperate attempts to keep traffic moving.

The eternal question is: why is a simple ring road, a 360-degree bypass of a city, so badly congested? There appear to be three principal reasons. First, as a sweetener to locals along the route, junctions were dropped in all over the place. They allowed the road to be built, but allowed lots of local traffic onto what was intended as a long-distance route. It also means the road is now used by many commuters. Second, it was meant to be the outermost of three or four ring roads for London; not counting the inner ring road and South Circular, which are signed routes along city streets, it is currently the outermost of one and a half ring roads. Thirdly, and partly for the reasons above, the demand for this road was so grossly underestimated that when it was finally completed in 1986, it was already out of date. Demand outstripped capacity within a few short years and ever since then it's been a long and expensive battle to make things move once more.
Factfile
Start Dartford (A282)
Finish Thurrock (A282)
Passes Swanley, Sevenoaks, Reigate, Staines, Heathrow Airport, Watford, St Albans
Length 118 miles
Terminates M20, M26, A1(M)
Spurs None
Meets M1, M3, M4, M11, M23, M40



M11

A 1970s motorway built to whiz traffic from London to the newly developed Stansted airport. An additional two-lane section was built north of there to get traffic to Cambridge, then onto what is now the A14 and then onto the A1.

Short-sighted planning gave the Stansted junction, where the M11 loses a lane, a normal roundabout interchange. Free-flowing links into the airport's road system have now been built at great expense and things are now flowing smoothly at long last.

Three junctions are missing from the start of the motorway - this would have been the link further into London to reach Ringway 1, a proposed inner ring motorway for London. This link was built to different designs in the 1990s as the A12 between the A406 and Hackney Wick.

The best thing that could happen to the M11 now would be an extension to meet the A1, to relieve the choked A14 section between Cambridge and Huntingdon, and close a gap in the motorway network.
Factfile
Start London (A406)
Finish Cambridge (A14)
Passes Harlow, Stansted Airport
Length 51 miles
Terminates None
Spurs None
Meets M25

Answer 3

there is in excess of one mile of motorway in the uk, exaclty how much over this official estimate, is unclear.

Answer 4

Sure it wasn't 2 and a small 1/2 beside it? I'm from UK, and I can't remember seeing any "Services 21 miles" anywhere, and would find it odd if I did. However, we do usually have signs saying "Services 21/2" (2.5 miles) the 2 being normal size, the 1/2 being smaller and without the "/" in between. So if you only glance at it as you go past, you might miss the last "2" and hence only see "Services 21" Or more likely, if you're still sure it was "Services 21", it might be something to do with making sure drivers take regular breaks when travelling long distances, or for long periods of time. Since you're on a motorway, it's gonna take a while to get where you want, so if you see these signs, you know your about 30 mins away from a cafe/diner. I think over here (in UK, where we do use miles) drivers get advised to take a break for every hour of driving. Don't quote me on that tho, cos I'm not a driver.

Answer 5

583

Answer 6

There are almost 250,000 miles of road in the UK according to this web page.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmtran/218/21807.htm

Can hire you a road wheel if you want to check!

Answer 7

total mileage of motorway is 3,523km or 2202 miles.

Answer 8

About 10 miles thats useable, all the rest is dug up with bollards on them !!!

Answer 9

To many

Answer 10

just told u on rogue traders, but wasnt' listening close enough to give youteh answer

Answer 11

Very few, its mostly a car park.