A1(M) motorway

The four sections of the A1(M) highlighted against the other UK motorways

Looking northwards at Washington Services as the A1(M) approaches Junction 65

A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major North-South road, which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The first section, the Doncaster Bypass, opened in 1961 and is one of the oldest sections of motorway in Britain.^[1] Construction of a new section of A1(M) between Leeming and Barton was completed on 29 March 2018, a year later than the anticipated opening in 2017 due to extensive archaeological excavations. Its completion linked the Barton to Washington section with the Darrington to Leeming Bar section, forming the longest A1(M) section overall and reducing the number of sections from five to four.

There has been a proposal to renumber the section of A1(M) to M1 between Micklefield to Washington, making this section a northern extension of the M1.^[2]

Overview[edit]

Most of the English section of the A1 is a series of alternating sections of primary route, dual carriageway and motorway. From Newcastle upon Tyne to Edinburgh it is a trunk road with alternating sections of dual and single carriageway. The table below summarises the road as motorway and non-motorway sections.^[3] The non-motorway sections do not have junction numbers.

From London to Sunderland, 123.33 miles of the route are non-motorway while the remaining 145.38 miles are to motorway standards.

The motorway sections are discussed below.

South Mimms to Stotfold[edit]

A1(M)
Route information
Part of E15
Length	24 mi (39 km)
Existed	1962 – present
History	Constructed 1962–1986
Major junctions
From	South Mimms
	J1 → M25 motorway
To	Stotfold
Location
Primary destinations	Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Hitchin, Letchworth
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The northern portal of the Hatfield Tunnel

This section opened in stages:

• Junctions 1 to 2 opened in 1979
• Junctions 2 to 4 opened in 1986
• Junctions 4 to 6 opened in 1973
• Junctions 6 to 8 opened in 1962
• Junctions 8 to 10 opened in 1967

Junctions[edit]

A1(M) motorway junctions
km	Southbound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	Northbound exits (A carriageway)
	Road continues as A1 to Central London	J1 Services	Stansted , Dartford Crossing (M11, M20) Heathrow, Gatwick (M1, M40, M4, M3, M23) M25 Barnet A1081 Non-motorway traffic South Mimms services
	Stansted , Dartford Crossing (M11, M20) Heathrow, Gatwick (M1, M40, M4, M3, M23) M25 Barnet A1081 South Mimms services		Start of motorway
	No access (on-ramp only)	J2	Hatfield A1001
	St Albans A414 Potters Bar A1001	J3	St Albans A414
	Hatfield Tunnel	Tunnel	Hatfield Tunnel
	Hertford A414, Welwyn Garden City A6129, Hatfield A1001	J4	Hertford A414, Welwyn Garden City A6129
	No access	J5	No access (on-ramp only)
	Welwyn, Welwyn Garden City A1000	J6	Welwyn, Welwyn Garden City A1000
	Stevenage, Ware A602	J7	Stevenage, Ware A602
	Stevenage A602	J8	Hitchin, Stevenage A602
	Letchworth, Baldock, Hitchin A505	J9	Letchworth, Baldock A505
	Start of motorway	J10 Services	Stotfold, Henlow A507 Baldock services
	Stotfold, Henlow A507 Non-motorway traffic Baldock services		Road continues as A1 to Sandy

Alconbury to Peterborough[edit]

A1(M)
Route information
Part of E15
Length	13 mi (21 km)
Existed	1998 – present
Major junctions
From	Alconbury
To	Orton Southgate
Location
Primary destinations	Peterborough
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

A1(M) southbound at Sawtry.

This section which runs though the Cambridgeshire countryside between Alconbury and Peterborough first opened in 1998 and was officially opened by Lord Whitty on 31 October and is the most isolated of the motorway sections as it connects with no other motorway and is designed to a noticeably high standard, eight miles of it being four lanes from Junction 14 at Alconbury to Junction 16 at Norman Cross in each direction whilst the remainder has three lanes in each direction. It is managed by Road Management Services (Peterborough) Ltd under a DBFO contract with the Highways Agency.^[4]

Junctions[edit]

Doncaster By-Pass (Blyth to Skellow)[edit]

A1(M)
Route information
Part of E15
Length	15.2 mi (24.5 km)
Existed	1961 – present
Major junctions
From	Blyth
	J35 → M18 motorway
To	Red House, near Skellow
Location
Primary destinations	Doncaster, Wakefield, Rotherham, Barnsley
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

This fifteen mile section which runs from Skellow in South Yorkshire to Blyth in the far north of Nottinghamshire first opened in 1961 and was one of the very first sections of motorway to be built in Britain; it is entirely two lanes in each direction.

Junctions[edit]

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.^[5]

A1(M) motorway junctions
km	Southbound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	Northbound exits (A carriageway)
0.0	Road continues as A1 to Newark	J34 Services	Bawtry A614 Blyth B6045 Non-motorway traffic Blyth services
	Bawtry A614 Blyth B6045 Blyth services		Start of motorway
12.0	Sheffield, Rotherham, Hull, Scunthorpe, Robin Hood M18	J35	Sheffield, Rotherham, Hull, Scunthorpe, Robin Hood M18
14.9	Doncaster, Doncaster International Railport, Conisbrough A630	J36	Doncaster, Doncaster International Railport, Conisbrough A630
20.3	Barnsley, Thurnscoe A635	J37	Barnsley, Thurnscoe A635
24.4	Start of motorway	J38	South Elmsall, Ackworth, Wakefield A638
	South Elmsall, Ackworth, Wakefield A638 Non-motorway traffic		Road continues as A1 to Darrington

Darrington to Washington[edit]

A1(M)
Route information
Part of E15
Length	98.6 mi (158.7 km)
Existed	1965 – present
History	Constructed 1965–2018
Major junctions
From	Darrington
	J41 → M62 motorway J43 → M1 motorway J57 → A66(M) motorway J65 → A194(M) motorway
To	Birtley
Location
Primary destinations	Wetherby, Knaresborough, Ripon, Catterick, Scotch Corner, Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Durham, Houghton le Spring, Chester-le-Street, Washington Road network
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

Wetherby Services on the A1(M).

This section opened in sections:

• Walshford to 49 opened in 1995
• Junctions 43 to 44 opened in 1999

When this section opened it ended at a temporary terminus south of the M1. There was a final exit into Micklefield Village for non-motorway traffic onto what is now the access road. During the first week of June 2009, Junctions 44 and 45 were renumbered to 43 and 44. At the same time the existing A1/A659 Grange Moor junction became A1(M) Junction 45.^[6] As a result many atlases show incorrect junction numbering for this stretch of motorway.

• Junction 46 to temporary junction at Walshford opened in 2005^[7]
• Junction 40 to south of 43 opened in 2005 & 2006

The northern section of the upgrade, bypassing Fairburn village, opened to traffic in April 2005 with a temporary connection with the existing A1 between Fairburn and Brotherton. The southern section, with a free-flow interchange with the M62 motorway, opened to traffic on 13 January 2006.

• Junctions 44 to 46 opened in 2009^[8]
• Junctions 49 to 51 opened in 2011 & 2012

Work began in March 2009 to upgrade the Dishforth to Leeming section to dual 3-lane motorway standard with existing connections being replaced by two new junctions. The Dishforth to Baldersby Section (J49 to J50) was completed in October 2011^[9] and the Baldersby to Leeming section (J50 to J51) was opened to traffic on 31 March 2012.

• Junctions 51 to 56 opened in 2017 & 2018 - there are no junctions 54 and 55

Work on upgrading the Leeming Bar to Barton section to three-lane motorway began in April 2014. Work was expected to be completed by summer 2017.^[10] In early 2017, the Highways Agency announced that the full opening would be delayed until December 2017.^[11] In the end, the motorway opened up on 29 March 2018, making the A1 continuous motorway standard from Darrington, West Yorkshire, to Washington, Tyne and Wear, though residual works were still to be completed.^[12]

• Junctions 56 to 59 opened in 1965
• Junctions 59 to 63 opened in 1969
• Junctions 63 to 65 opened in 1970

Junctions[edit]

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.^[5]

A1(M) motorway junctions
km	Southbound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	Northbound exits (A carriageway)
36.5	Road continues as A1 to Doncaster	J40	Knottingley A162 Non-motorway traffic Ferrybridge services
	No access (on-ramp only)		Start of motorway
41.1	Hull, Goole, Manchester, Pontefract, Leeds M62 Ferrybridge services	J41	Manchester, Pontefract, Leeds M62
46.7	Leeds, Selby A63	J42	Selby A63
	The South, Leeds M1	J43	No access (on-ramp only)
55.3	Leeds, York A64	J44	Leeds, York A64
57.2	Wetherby, Boston Spa, Otley A659	J45	Tadcaster, Boston Spa, Otley A659
	Kirk Deighton, Wetherby B1224 Wetherby services	J46 Services	Kirk Deighton, Wetherby B1224 Wetherby services
79.3	York, Harrogate, Knaresborough, Leeds Bradford International A59	J47	York, Harrogate, Knaresborough, Leeds Bradford International A59
86.3	Ripon, Boroughbridge A168	J48	Boroughbridge A168 Knaresborough A6055
95.2	Thirsk, Teesside A168 (A19)	J49	Thirsk, Teesside A168 (A19)
102.8	Ripon, Thirsk, Harrogate A61	J50	Ripon, Thirsk A61
119.9	Northallerton, Leeming Bar, Bedale A6055 (A684)	J51	Northallerton, Leeming Bar, Bedale A6055 (A684)
	Catterick A6136	J52	Catterick A6136
	Penrith, Brough A66 (W) Richmond A6108 Scotch Corner services	J53	Penrith, Brough A66 (W) Richmond A6108 Scotch Corner services
	Melsonby, Barton B6275	J56	Piercebridge, Barton B6275
	No access (on-ramp only)	J57	Darlington, Teesside & A66(M)
	Darlington A68	J58	Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Corbridge A68
	Newton Aycliffe, Darlington, Teesside A167	J59	Newton Aycliffe A167
	Hartlepool, Bishop Auckland, Teesside A689	J60	Hartlepool, Bishop Auckland, Teesside A689
	Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor A688 Durham services	J61 Services	Spennymoor A688 Durham A177 Durham services
	Durham A690	J62	Durham, Sunderland A690
	Chester-le-Street A167 Stanley A693	J63	Chester-le-Street A167 Stanley A693
	Washington A195	J64	Washington A195
	Washington services	Services	Washington services
	Start of motorway	J65	South Shields, Tyne Tunnel A194(M)
	Sunderland A1231 Non-motorway traffic		Road continues as A1 to Edinburgh

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A1(M) motorway.

Route map:

• CBRD Motorway Database – A1(M)
• The Motorway Archive (A1(M))
  • Junctions 1 to 10 & 14 to 17
  • Junctions 34 to 38
  • Junctions 47 to 49
  • Junctions 56 to 59
  • Junctions 59 to 63
  • Junctions 63 to 65
• Pathetic Motorways: A1(M) Central Motorway East