M69

The M69 is the motorway between Leicester and Coventry, providing an exceptionally good way between two provincial cities. It's the sort of connection that many other prosperous cities would fight for.

There are an extravagant six lanes for most of the journey, which means that it usually feels very quiet and very fast. In part that's because bigger things were planned for this road.

At the Leicester end it seems to finish at an incomplete junction. Before the northern terminus, the carriageways split apart, leaving room for the motorway to continue onwards, and the road narrows from three lanes to two before navigating a series of curves on what was supposed to be a sliproad to reach the M1 roundabout. North of here, the motorway was planned to cross the M1, with free-flowing sliproads to the north, before connecting directly with the A563 Leicester Outer Ring Road close to its junction with the A47. Local opposition to this plan halted it, though Highways England do still entertain ideas of using the unfinished end to provide free-flowing sliproads onto the M1.

At the southern end, there are free-flowing sliproads onto the M6 towards Birmingham, and if you look closely, stubs for more sliproads to be added. Free-flowing access was meant to be provided onto a southern extension of the road, but that was never built, and when it did finally appear in the 1980s it was as part of the A46.

There was, at one time, a vague intention that the motorway might go all the way to the M5, connecting end-on to the M50 at Strensham. Plans to connect the M42 at J3a to the M50 advanced much further, but neither came to pass, so the M50 was never connected to anything and the M69 strays no further than Coventry.

Start

Coventry

End

Leicester

Passes

Nuneaton, Hinckley

Connects to

M1, M6

Length

16 miles

Click a section name to see its full details, or click a map symbol on the right to see all motorways opened in that year.

Completed Name Start End
Leicester Section J1 Stretton Baskerville M1 J21 Whetstone Chronology map for 1976
Coventry Section M6 J2 Ansty J1 Stretton Baskerville Chronology map for 1977

Exit list

Symbols and conventions are explained in the key to exit lists. You can click any junction to see its full details.

Junction   Northbound               Southbound  
M1 J21
125.4 km
The NORTH
Nottingham
M1 Link
The SOUTH
Northampton
M1 Link
Leicester
A5460 (A563)








M1
NORTH
A5460 (A563)








M1
N/A
LanesLanesLanesLanes SignsSigns LanesLanesLanesLanes Signs
1 mile, 2 lanes 1 mile, 2 lanes
124 km
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
9 miles, 3 lanes 6 miles, 3 lanes
2
114.8 km
B4669 B4669 Hinckley
B4669
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
  3 miles, 3 lanes
1
110.1 km
Hinckley
B4109
Nuneaton
A5
B4109

A5
A5

B4109
Hinckley
B4109
Nuneaton
A5
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
6 miles, 3 lanes 6 miles, 3 lanes
M6 J2
100 km
N/A M6

A4600







A46
SOUTH
B4065

M6










Coventry (S)
Leamington Spa
A46 (A45)
The SOUTH
Rugby
M6 Link
Coventry (Cen)
A4600
Coventry (N)
Birmingham
M6 Link
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes Signs LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes Signs
Routes
M69

Picture credits

With thanks to Alex Lochrie, David and John for information on this page.

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