M18

Originally the M18 was a spur from the M1 for traffic heading on to the A1. It was eventually extended to meet the M62, connecting Sheffield to Doncaster, Hull and North Lincolnshire.

In places it's remarkably fast and quiet, especially its northernmost stretch which has three lanes running straight and flat across the countryside, making the M18 is one of the police's favourite motorways for speed patrols. It's also surprisingly well-endowed with lanes and motorway connections for such a short and remote route: it is, after all, a shortcut to East Yorkshire from the south and isn't too heavily used.

The only exception is around Doncaster, the busiest section and for reasons that are hard to explain also the narrowest. Two lanes now struggle to cope with rush hour traffic, which promptly evaporates when the road widens out at either end of the bottleneck.

For a little while, the M18 used to have a short spur towards Scunthorpe called the A18(M). The slightly strange phasing of motorway construction projects around Hatfield - which saw a series of very short sections built one after the other - meant that for a few years in the 1970s the whole area was in a constant state of transition. It was very nearly a temporary road, and whether it was meant to last any length of time before being consumed by the M180 isn't known. It was only ever applied to the link between the M18 and the A18, and is now underneath the eastbound exit from the M180.

Start

Rotherham

End

Goole

Passes

Doncaster

Connects to
Length

26 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
Thurcroft - Wadworth M1 J32 Thurcroft J2 Wadworth Chronology map for 1967
Thorne Bypass Thorne Road J6 Waterside Chronology map for 1972
Thorne - M62 J6 Waterside J7 Langham Chronology map for 1975
West Moor - Thorne J4 West Moor Thorne Road Chronology map for 1977
Wadworth - West Moor J2 Wadworth J4 West Moor Chronology map for 1978

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  
7
292.8 km
Hull
Goole
M62 Link
Leeds
Manchester
M62 Link (A1(M) Link, M1 Link)
M62
(M1)
(A1(M))
NORTH

M62
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
5 miles, 3 lanes 5 miles, 3 lanes
6
286 km
Thorne
Selby
A614
(A1041)
A614
(A1081)
A614 Hatfield
Thorne
A614
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 3 lanes 2 miles, 3 lanes
5
283 km
Scunthorpe
Grimsby
Humberside Airport
M180 Link
Services Doncaster North
B1538 M180 Scunthorpe
Grimsby
Humberside Airport
M180 Link
Services Doncaster North
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
4 miles, 2 lanes 4 miles, 2 lanes
4
276 km
Hatfield
Thorne
A630
(A18)
A630
(A18)
Doncaster
A630
(A18)
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
6 miles, 2 lanes 6 miles, 2 lanes
3
267 km
Doncaster
Robin Hood Airport
A6182
A6182 A6182 Doncaster
Robin Hood Airport
A6182
LanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanes
2 miles, 2 lanes 2 miles, 2 lanes
2
264.5 km
The NORTH
The SOUTH
Doncaster
A1(M) Link
A1(M) A1(M) The NORTH
The SOUTH
Retford
A1(M) Link
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
8 miles, 3 lanes 8 miles, 3 lanes
1
255 km
Rotherham
Maltby
A631
A631 A631 Rotherham
Maltby
A631
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
3 miles, 3 lanes 3 miles, 3 lanes
M1 J32
251 km
N/A M1



SOUTH
M1

The SOUTH
Nottingham
M1 Link
Sheffield
Rotherham
M1 Link
LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes LanesLanesLanesLanesLanes
Routes
M18

Picture credits

With thanks to Chris C2R for information on this page.

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