M40

M40

London to Solihull

The second motorway from London to Birmingham, calling in at Oxford on the way, is calmer and prettier than the alternative - but caused far more problems to build.

Routes
M40

M40 and A40

It's one of London's most complete radial routes, but the road envisioned by sixties planners would have been bigger: perhaps a motorway, perhaps double-deck, perhaps not.

Routes

M40 at 50 10 July 2017

The M40 has just turned 50. Here are five things you might not know about the London to Birmingham motorway.

Routes
M40

What's new

A century of motorways

It's 100 years since the opening of the world's first motorway, the Autostrada from Milan to the Lakes.

Schrödinger’s speed limit

In 2022, Manchester City Council say they reduced the speed limit on the Mancunian Way to 30mph. But it’s not clear if they did. It’s not even clear if they can.

Sorry, wrong number

Road numbering is a system with clear rules. What happens when the people responsible for numbering roads don't follow them?

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Have you seen...

From War to Worboys

The tale of how British traffic signing developed between the Second World War and the mid-1960s, bringing us from a system designed at the turn of the century to the signs we still use today.