| M25 Motorway |
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Information AboutM25 Motorway |
The M25 motorway is one of the ) which is longer by 5 miles (8 km). DESCRIPTION For most of its length the motorway has six lanes (three in each direction), although there are a few short stretches which are four-lane and perhaps one sixth is eight-lane, around the south-western corner. The motorway was widened to ten lanes between junctions 12 and 14, and twelve lanes between junctions 14 and 15, in November 2005. The Highways Agency has plans to widen almost all of the remaining stretches of the M25 to eight lanes. It is one of motorway near the Funkturm in Berlin ( {Link without Title} ). The M25 is not a continuous loop. To the east of London, the toll crossing of the Thames between Thurrock and Dartford is the non-motorway A282 . The Dartford Crossing , which consists of two tunnels and the QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) Bridge , is named ''Canterbury Way''. Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a toll, dependent upon the type of vehicle. Designating this stretch as a motorway would mean that traffic not permitted to use motorways could not cross the Thames east of Woolwich . While this is more a structural than a logical issue, at junction 5 near Sevenoaks continuing around the M25 requires the driver to follow the Slip Road s, as the anticlockwise carriageway continues as the M26 to the east (towards the M20 ) and the clockwise as the A21 towards the south coast. The road passes through multiple police force areas. Junctions 1–5 are in Kent, 6–14 in Surrey (passing at places through Greater London and Berkshire), 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire, 17–24 are in Hertfordshire, 25 in Greater London, 26–28 in Essex, 29 in Greater London and 30–31 in Essex. Policing the road is carried out by an integrated policing group made up of the Metropolitan , Thames Valley , Essex , Kent , Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. The distance of the motorway from central London (taken as 2004 . The three service areas are located in the central north (JCT 23 South Mimms), south east (Clacket Lane) and central east (Thurrock). HISTORY The idea of an orbital road around London was first proposed early in the 20th Century and was re-examined a number of times during the first half of the 20th Century in plans such as Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Charles Bressey's ''The Highway Development Survey'', 1937 and Sir Patrick Abercrombie's '' County Of London Plan , 1943 '' and ''Greater London Plan, 1944''. Abercrombie's plan proposed a series of five roads encircling the capital. In the post-war years little was done to implement Abercrombie's plans but in the 1960s the Greater London Council developed an ambitious plan for a network of ring roads around the capital. The London Ringways plan was hugely controversial due to the destruction required for the inner two ring roads and the enormous anticipated cost. The plan was modified a number of times to overcome opposition from the residents of threatened areas and the government, but was cancelled in 1973 . Parts of the two outer ring roads, Ringways 3 and 4 , were begun in 1973 and became the first two sections of the M25 to open in 1975 (junction 23 to junction 24) and 1976 (junction 6 to junction 8). Construction of the M25 continued in stages until its completion in 1986 . The stages were not constructed contiguously but in small sections, such as Dartford to Swanley (junction 1 to junction 3) and Potters Bar to Waltham Cross (junction 24 to junction 25). As the orbital road developed the sections were linked. Each section was presented to planning authorities in its own right and was individually justified, with almost 40 public inquiries relating to sections of the route. Maps at this time depicting these short sections named the route as the M16 but this changed before completion. The northern sections of the M25 follow a similar route to the World War II Outer London Defence Ring . The M25 was officially opened on October 29 1986 with a ceremony by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , who opened the section between J22 and J23 ( London Colney and South Mimms ). The initial tenders for the construction of the M25 totalled £631.9 million. This did not include compulsory purchase of land and subsequent upgrades and repairs. More recently, the perennially Congested south-western stretch of the M25 (near Woking ) has been fitted with an experimental automated traffic control system called Motorway Incident Detection And Automatic Signalling (MIDAS). This consists of a distributed network of traffic and weather sensors, Speed Camera s and Variable-speed signs that control traffic speeds with little human supervision. The system hasn't reduced congestion but it is hoped that MIDAS will be fitted to the rest of the M25 in due course anyway. A precursor of the M25 was the ''North Orbital Road'' (see A414 Road ). ILLUMINATED SECTIONS Large sections of the M25 are illuminated with the aim of reducing accidents on the road. The current illuminated sections are Dartford to junction 2, junction 5, junctions 6 to 16, junctions 18 to 21A, and junctions 23 to 31. It is thought that when the widening of the M25 is completed junctions 3 to 5 will be the only area unlit, as this is the quietest part of the M25. The type of lights on the M25 varies, with some of the sections using the older yellow Low-pressure Sodium (SOX) lighting, and others with modern high-pressure sodium (SON) lighting. Some stretches have recently been upgraded to SON. These include Junction 5, junctions around Heathrow and 27. JUNCTIONS MAP TRIVIA The M25 (including the A282 Dartford Crossing) is known for its frequent jams. These have been the subject of so much comment from such an early stage that even at the official opening ceremony Margaret Thatcher complained about "those who carp and criticise". The jams have inspired jokes ("the world's biggest car park", "the London Orbital Car Park"), songs ( Chris Rea 's "The Road to Hell") and the following tongue-in-cheek theory: :''"Many phenomena — wars, plagues, sudden audits — have been advanced as evidence for the hidden hand of Satan in the affairs of Man , but whenever students of Demonology get together the M25 London orbital motorway is generally agreed to be among the top contenders for exhibit A." ::— from '' Good Omens '', by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman .'' This is because (in the book) the M25 was actually moulded by demonic forces during its planning so as to resemble, from space, a mystic demonic sigil. The M25's name inspired the name of the Electronica duo, Orbital . A Bit Of Fry And Laurie comedy show's This is Dominic Appleguard skit presents Dominic Appleguard as a man of many psychological disfunctions, finally declaring that he designed M25. The motorway's dubious reputation once prompted Andy Hamilton to say, in reference to the M25, "abandon hope all ye who enter here; no services until Junction 12". REFERENCES
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