M3

M3

London to Southampton

The M3 is the road south-west from London, serving the densely populated towns in the west of Surrey, the north of Hampshire and the south of Berkshire. It's not especially long as major inter-urban motorways go, but it certainly isn't quiet, and it's had more than its share of controversy.

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M3

M3 and A316

A grand south western approach road from London to Basingstoke and Southampton: the A316 was entangled in local politics, and the M3 was never to enter London at all.

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The road that made no sense

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.

The forever bottleneck, part 2

The second part of the story, where we learn why exactly the M4 gets narrower on the final approach to Europe’s biggest city.

The forever bottleneck, part 1

The M4 into London was one of the UK's earliest and most ambitious motorway projects. It was bold, pioneering... and almost instantly regretted.

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To the Limit

Speed limits are more emotive and divisive than almost anything else about the road network. How do you sort the fact from the opinion? And how did we end up with the speed limits we have?