p4p3rc1ip

(Other countries feel free to start their own ones) Yeah, everyone complains about roads like the M1, M6 and M25, but imagine trying to drive long-distance without them! London would be 100x busier, and we'd have no northwards routes. So what are our REAL pathetic motorways? They could be really odd. They are almost always really short. They could be mostly unbuilt. They could be quiet. Or prehaps just not very well known. They could be everything! Here are my nominations: M10 & M45: Two in one here. When the M1 was being built it was our first proper motorway. At the very last minute the planners realised that three lanes of traffic would suddenly hit the 1950s road network, and there would be queues for miles back up the M1. So the plan was this: these two roads would halve the amount of traffic at the end. The M45 would take northbound traffic into Coventry and the M10 would take southbound traffic in to St. Alban. And it worked! But in todays world the M45s job has been taken by the M6, so it is deadly quiet. And the M10 is deadly short. When the M1 widening works are complete the M10 shall be downgraded to an a-road. M271: It has a horrible surface. It's only junction where you don't have to stop (out of four) doesn't meet a numbered road. It has a roundabout IN THE MIDDLE of it. A6144(M): This road was lost on the 24th of May 2004. But we can still laugh at it - it was our only FULLY SINGLE CARRIAGEWAY MOTORWAY! Yep, one lane each way, no barrier, just loads of 'two way traffic' signs reminding you. This offered you the rare chance to do 70mph on the motorway. The idea was that non-motorway traffic couldn't turn round at the end because the roundabouts were too small. So when the M60 was widened, the two tiny ones were replaced with one large roundabout, and the road was no longer a motorway. But like all former motorways, it had a ban on all non-motorway traffic except learner drivers. So other than lowering the speed limit, what was achieved? M58: This must be our only motorway which is incomplete at either end! Four out of it's six junctions are pathetic, including one at either end. At the eastern end the road becomes single carriageway. It was meant to temporarrily allow traffic to get to Bolton until the road was completed, but nothing happened. A329(M): It has no central barriers down the middle! It was also meant to be much longer, including an extention to SW London at the southern end. Recently the northern end was turned into a-road so they could put 300 yards of bus lanes on it. A601(M): As the M6 was built in sections, when this section was finished it had a temporarrily sharp bend and 'jumped' to the nearest road. When the M6 was extended, it was extended from the end of the section because it was facing the wrong way. It was extended from where J35 is today. This left a little 'hangy off bit'. Then, when lorries for the quarriers were complaining about having to go the long way round, a link road was built, single carriageway. The road was also given a number, the A601(M), which means 'A601 under motorway regulations'. But the A601 is in Derby, so how does that work? M49: Provides a 3 miles shortcut between the M4 and M5 for no real reason really. It's deadly boring and deadly quiet, and has no junctions to call it's own! One belongs to the M4, one belongs to the M5. There are a few more that I can't think of right now.

Search 'Area 51'. I thought these things were secret

It also depends on where you live. Whilst I'd love to download every landmark and shop in the world, I don't have the time or memory, so I just download things I know about.

^ Is correct. < Is always correct. v Is never correct.

It looks better now the building has finished. I'm trying to find a view from Portsdown Hill at night (I took one in the day, but it didn't come out very well). Tonks, can you help me out?

Originally posted by: _Allan_ Formerlly the worlds Longest Road was Yonge Street (Provincial Highway 11) but, in recent years, they have 'seperated' it. Which is unfortunate.quote> Thinking about it, maybe I should move to London and submit The Longest Lane. (I wonder if anyone has ever driven it?) Anyway, as for my real longest building, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a row of terraced houses.

Originally posted by: SWAT-MEDIC im sorry, that would be a bridge. Buildings are inhabited by humans, bridges are used to go across water and other things that cant be driven on. ok? P.S,, this is my hundredth post!!!quote> In that case, the A3 still counts, as I'm sure Swampy et al would have moved into it at some point

How about this? I make the A3 78 miles long.

In my outer city centre (*****?), I often have an avenue with high-dens commercial on one side and high-dens residential on the other. Works a treat, IMO, so long as the avenue isn't too busy.

If we're counting shoulders... http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=53.531814~-2.381051&style=a&lvl=17&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000 The road here is a massive 25 lanes wide.

The M60/M61/A666 junction west of Manchester is about 18 lanes split accross several carriageways.

Re Glasgow, the M8 is ugly and incomplete. Have you seen the unbuilt Glasgow Southern Ring Road? Until a few years ago, Scotland's roads were a joke. The M77 was too short, the M8 and M80 had huge gaps in them, the A800 was a single-carriageway road linking two motorways, and several other minor things. The only "normal" roads are the M876, M898, A823(M), M90 and M9, and the first three are only two miles long!

Manchester, UK. Now, I know it's a great city and generally well built, but there's one thing which makes me laugh... They had to stop building the sliproad [offramp] that you can see in the bottom right because at last minute they figured it would end facing the wrong way on a one way street!

Why do I have to be such a townie? That really is the best I can think of! Of course, I could always lay claim to fame of the Spinnaker Tower...

What do you mean by traffic? No cars showing up? Check your settings, some downloads change the quality of cars to none. Or, if you mean that the route querry tool brings up '(none)', because in that case, you might have to wait for it to refresh.

Scotland's motorways used to be a mess. They're sorting them out now. Problem is, England is stuck in a world of "roads = cars, cars = bad". So many things are being done on the cheap. So many major road schemes have been cancelled over the years. Monorails are seen as children's rides. AFAIK we don't have any outside private land such as Alton Towers and Chester Zoo. Widening is seen as the answer to anything. We're not future-proofing. And we're taking too long to do things to. For example, near me, they want to widen a stretch of the M27. It does need doing, but by the time the work is predicted to finish (and that's assuming there are no objections and environmentalists, which there probably will be), it will need to be widened again! And don't get me started on speed limits and lane closures. Isn't 30mph or less only supposed to be used in urban or dangerous areas? I've been forced to do 30 before in the middle of no-where or get a speeding fine. The M1 didn't reach it's capacity on it's first day. It was very clear during it's first few years. However, it's only Service Area, Watford Gap, was designed to hold 10,000 VPD and reached this on it's first day.

Those things only exist there because they've only just been invented! All new or improved motorways will have these. Yup, I'm back...

They are pretty insignificatnt little things on the side of the road about 3 feet high.quote> You may like this then: http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/mileagesigns/