Heading east from London? Visiting the Docklands, Lakeside shopping centre or Southend Pier? Take Billy Bragg's advice, then, and hitch a ride on the A13.
It was the UK's only single-carriageway motorway, and twenty years ago it ceased to exist. This is the story of the strange fascination it held, and of my place in history.
Motorways used to be really simple. Now they have electronic signals, variable speed limits, emergency lay-bys, part-time hard shoulders... Just what is so smart about Smart Motorways?