Building the M1 1965

See the Leicestershire section of the M1 Motorway under construction and and scenes of the brand new motorway in use. See also busy roads filled with brand new "Classic" vehicles and London traffic in 1966.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Transport

[kezbell]

No speed limit ,no traffic jams, but no crash barriers - loads of crossover crashes and littered with busted fan belts and boiling radiators. The cars weren't built for sustained high speed, cross ply tyres, no ABS. Those were the days???!!!

[vidpop]

I remember the M2 opening in Kent it was a strange experience to be on it as it changed the landscape so dramatically , and there was so much space on the carriageway in the mid sixties. Most cars did about 50-55 mph and lorries did 40 !!.

[kezbell]

I remember going down the M1 in Northern Ireland a week after it opened and never saw another car. Then I was told there was a terrible accident on the first day and nobody would go on it. Eventually I'll get round to uploaduing M! footage 1960 when the first bit was brand new.

[RoadCone411]

Excellent video! There is an interesting article on the motorway turning 50 this month in Top Gear magazine - a must read if you are a car buff!

UK motorways had a utopian feel about them when they first opened - nowadays they are generally loathed. It's the same here in the USA with the Interstate system, unless you are driving in rural areas.

[kezbell]

Thanks for your very kind comments. Planning in the UK has always been chaotic, not much different than the USA no doubt. In 1957 at the start of building the M! was projected to reach capacity of 80,000 vehicles per day by 1980. It reached 120,000 per day by 1961!!! Roads just generate traffic. Need I say more

[RoadCone411]

I grew up in the UK, so the M roads have always had a soft spot in my heart. I can remember stopping for snacks or lunch at various M6 Services throughout the Midlands. There is little point for that these days unless you need to relieve yourself!

It's much the same in the USA of course. Only a few of the interstates even have proper "Services" (the toll roads like the New Jersey Turnpike come to mind).

Yes the interstates handle far more traffic today than originally planned for!

[kezbell]

I take your point about service areas - you need to take out a second mortgage to eat there these days and I can compare with your Interstates having toured the whole of Florida five years ago.

The European model is better in some coountries - no enormous expensive gin palace service areas many miles apart. In France and Benelux they have stopping "Aires" every 10km with fuel stops every 20 - 40KM. In Belgium if you buy gas they have to give you free coffee by law.

[mrmrmrliamo]

@kezbell this is brillant, thanks 4 putting it together and uploading it! well done

[GTVAlfaMan]

It would have been a great time to own a quality metal detector, just think of all the possible treasures that were paved over.

[captainumbnuts]

here is a good idea, let's dismantle the public owned freight railway system, and cover the UK in tarmac, courtesy of the Tory dontating road building lobby, the rest is history....

[shmuli9]

@Paspiedreamcast Yes, I know... I remember when thye first opened it (I think the Dartford Tunnel was open long beferoe the M25 was open all the way.) OI also remember when they built the Queen E II bridge.

[Paspiedreamcast]

@shmuli9 well, other forms of transport do use the tunnel (cycles, pedestrians) and there is also no hard shoulder which all normal motorways have. When the M25 was completed in 1986, there was a single tunnel under the Thames. Now, there are two tunnels and a bridge.

[adamski700]

Great - thanks! Wish there was more of this stuff around.

[transitcoffin]

wish it was like that no less traffic and best of all ne speed cam's :)

[shmuli9]

Do you know the reason why that short little spretch of the M25 isn't motorway around Dartford? It's so legally, ANY motor vehicle can cross the Thames at that point, which is why a lot of obviously motorway-standard roads in Ireland are still signed "N" instead of "M" - as parts of these roads used the old road as a single carriageway and the old road literally doesn't exist any more.

[jkk45]

terrible sound quailty, but really good video and very intresting