55-422: [REDACTED] A421 The A507 is an A-class road in England, linking the M1 motorway near Milton Keynes to the A10 at Buntingford . Beginning at junction 13 of the M1, the road heads east past Ridgmont to Ampthill . Here it passes between Ampthill and its close neighbour Flitwick , essentially separating the two. After this it passes Flitton before crossing the A6 at a roundabout. Passing Shefford
110-680: A bypass opened alongside the M1 at Ridgmont. Prior to this the A507 formerly passed through Husborne Crawley and Ridgmont , where it met the A4012 road . The bypass includes three roundabouts and a bridge over the Marston Vale Line . Download coordinates as: 52°01′36″N 0°18′06″W / 52.0268°N 0.3016°W / 52.0268; -0.3016 ( A507 road ) This England road or road transport-related article
165-781: A junction spans several hundred metres, both start and end locations are given. An Active Traffic Management system operates on the short section northbound from junction 16 ( A3400 ) to the M42 . Junction 1 of the M40 is at the Denham Roundabout near Uxbridge just east of the M25. The motorway is carried over the top of the roundabout, which interchanges with the A40, the A412, the A4020 and links to
220-577: A separate cycleway . The upgrade work for this final phase of the plan, the section running from junction 13 to Eagle Farm roundabout, started in September 2018 and was completed in December 2020. In the "Road investment strategy" announced to Parliament by the Department for Transport and Secretary of State for Transport on 1 December 2014, planning would begin to dual the section between
275-591: A single designation for the entire route between the two motorways. In December 2023, work began on the new alignment, which replaces the roundabout with a three-level grade-separated junction . The Oxford to Cambridge Expressway was a proposed grade-separated dual carriageway between the A34 near Oxford and the A14 near Cambridge , via (or near) Milton Keynes. The proposal aimed to establish this route by linking existing roads and building new ones. The case for its creation
330-520: A southerly direction to Holtspur, Beaconsfield , a temporary junction 2 was opened. The section bypassing Beaconsfield was built in 1971 and the section past Gerrards Cross to junction 1 was completed in 1973. In 1974, the motorway between junctions 5 to 8 was completed to Great Milton . Between junctions 3 and 4, the beginnings of slip roads were built on both carriageways for a service area at Abbey Barns between Beaconsfield and High Wycombe. Beaconsfield services off junction 2 opened in 2009. Late in
385-461: A spur off the M40, with two-lane carriageways, leaves the mainline of the motorway as far as a trumpet junction for Wheatley and the A418, then continuing as the A40 towards Oxford . The spur can be accessed via the M40 northbound or by leaving the M40 at junction 8a southbound and crossing the M40 via the A418, and traffic heading towards the M40 can only join the southbound carriageway. Traffic going in
440-520: A temporary lane drop. The junction used to be a straightforward roundabout interchange with exits for the M40 (west and east), High Wycombe (A404), the A4010, two local roads and the A404 dual carriageway to the south. During 2007, work was completed which included extra stacking space on the sliproads from the M40, provision for traffic from the A404 northbound to join the M40 westbound slip road without joining
495-513: A very large volume of traffic using the junction. To try to alleviate this problem, there is a temporary lane drop for the London-bound carriageway. The largest exchange of traffic is between the A34 and the M40 north, and traffic on those roads backs up and causes congestion on both roads (going north and south), as well as on the interchange itself. North of the junction, the existing A34 becomes
550-532: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . A421 road (Great Britain) [REDACTED] A6 [REDACTED] M1 [REDACTED] [REDACTED] A4146 [REDACTED] A5 The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England . Together with the A428 , the A43 and A34 , it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford . The section between
605-557: Is a restricted junction with the A329 serving Thame and the A40. Access is limited allowing exit for only northbound traffic and entry only for southbound traffic. The exiting slip road on the southbound M40 at junction 7 is for "Works Traffic Only" to a depot. A slip road allows traffic from the A329 to join the M40 north but is closed to motorway traffic by a gate, so traffic must continue for 2 miles (3.2 km)to junction 8. At junction 8,
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#1732782496328660-654: Is junction 12, serving Gaydon and the Heritage Motor Centre via the B4451 . The junction is a box-standard diamond interchange . Farther along the motorway is Warwick Services , the last on the motorway, before it reaches the restricted access junction 13. This serves Leamington Spa and Warwick via the A452 , and Gaydon via the B4100. The junction is incomplete as a half-diamond interchange, with access only from
715-475: Is the largest exchange of traffic between the two motorways. The M40 passes over the interchange, with the M25 on the bottom. The clockwise M25 enters the junction with four lanes with a lane drop to accommodate traffic heading for the M40 westbound, leaving the junction with three lanes. The anti-clockwise M25 enters the junction with three lanes and gains a lane from the London-bound M40 to accommodate
770-406: Is the standard roundabout interchange over the M40. Beaconsfield services are located at this junction. Junction 3 is 3 miles (4.8 km) further on, and serves the A40 for High Wycombe East and Loudwater. This is a restricted junction; the only flows are from the westbound M40 to the A40 and from the A40 to the London-bound M40. The westbound carriageway loses a lane, remaining three lanes for
825-530: Is two lanes in both directions) and also between the slip-roads at junction 9 (in the south-eastbound direction only). An Active Traffic Management system operates on the short section north-westbound from junction 16 ( A3400 ) to the M42 . The motorway between London and Oxford was constructed in stages between 1967 and 1974. The first section opened in June 1967, from Handy Cross roundabout , High Wycombe to Stokenchurch (junctions 4–5). In 1969, extending in
880-672: The A1 (near St Neots ) and the A5 (in Milton Keynes ) is a national primary route . The road begins at the A1 , just south of St Neots (and the junction with the A428 from Cambridge), at the Black Cat roundabout . The road bypasses both Great Barford and Bedford to the south to reach the M1 at junction 13. From there, it swings up through the southern part of Milton Keynes , doubling as
935-472: The A1 Black Cat roundabout to Bedford ) and back to raise money for charity. The drive took place two days before the official road opening, and she was accompanied by Frank Branston (mayor of Bedford), Steve Clarke (teacher and navigator), and Denise Hubbard (driving instructor and car owner). She reached a speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) before doing a flawless three point turn, and returning to
990-666: The A1 and the A1198 at Caxton Gibbet . The link is to provide an uninterrupted dual carriageway route between the M1 (at Junction 13) and the M11/A14 (at Junction 14 and 31) near Cambridge. In September 2021, National Highways announced that this new section of dual carriageway will be designated A421. The announcement does not say whether the section between the A1198 and the A14/M11 junction will also be renumbered, which would create
1045-504: The A1 . 52°00′36″N 0°45′17″W / 52.00993°N 0.7548°W / 52.00993; -0.7548 M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London , Oxford , and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km). The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry slip-roads at junction 4 (which
1100-635: The A3400 . This means the A34 is now technically in two halves (it regains status farther up the road at junction 16, although signs on the motorway do not mention this). Instead, the first signs for the A34 from a motorway are on the M42 at junction 4, as with the A41. The road also becomes part of the E05 north of junction 9. The M40 follows a course of almost due north for 5 miles (8.0 km) before reaching junction 10, for
1155-607: The British Construction Industry Award in 2011. As of October 2020, the section from junction 13 of the M1 to the south-western flank of Milton Keynes is a dual carriageway. Upon leaving Milton Keynes, the section of road to the A43 is a single carriageway, with the exception of the bypass around Tingewick . In conjunction with the M1 widening schemes and dualling of the A421 between M1 Junction 13 and
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#17327824963281210-600: The Cherwell Valley services , the A43 and the village of Ardley . The A43 terminates at junction 10, although originally it carried on to Kidlington, the southern part of the old route now used by the re-routed A34. (The original A43 towards Oxford is now the B430.) The A43 serves Brackley, Silverstone and its racing circuit , home to the British Grand Prix . Farther on, the A43 leads to Northampton and
1265-534: The 1960s, not long after the first stretch opened, the Ministry of Transport announced the possibility of building a new motorway to link London with Birmingham as an alternative to the M1 – M6 route – as well as improving road links to the South Coast ports for The Midlands – but it was not until 1983 that the decision to extend the M40 from Oxford to the south of Birmingham
1320-639: The A1 near St Neots (see above), proposals were made to widen the A421 between the M1 junction 13 in Bedfordshire and the Kingston roundabout in Milton Keynes. Exhibitions were held in June 2005 which rejected proposals to re-route the road in favour of widening the current road. In 2005 the project was given an estimated total cost of £33 million. Funding of £23.5 million was confirmed by
1375-593: The A34 (E05) and the A41 . The A34 dual carriageway serves Oxford and is a trunk route for Newbury, Winchester and Southampton (via the M3 ) as well as the rest of the South Coast ;— for this the reason it is part of the unsigned European route E05. The A41 dual carriageway serves Bicester and Aylesbury, and both roads meet the motorway at Wendelbury roundabout junction. Its design is inefficient and cannot cope with
1430-562: The A413 off the A40 westbound. The motorway carries on for another 1 ⁄ 2 mile (0.80 km) before it reaches junction 1a, the free-flow interchange with the M25 London Orbital . It is a partially unrolled cloverleaf, with the smoothest turns from the London-bound M40 (from Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands) to the anti-clockwise M25 (London Heathrow, Gatwick, The Channel Ports) and vice versa, since this
1485-480: The A43 (between the M1 and M40) was upgraded to dual carriageway, the junction was redesigned and rebuilt by the Highways Agency to cope with the extra traffic. A third roundabout was added to the junction, to the north, with the slips for the southbound M40 and the A43, with the slip roads for the northbound M40 remodelled as well, and the roundabout in the middle now serving the services. The slip road for
1540-508: The A452 to J13. A few hundred yards further up is junction 15, known as Longbridge island. This is a large, regular roundabout interchange, and is always busy during peak times due to the various destinations it serves, including The Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Coventry, and Warwick. Farther north, Henley-in-Arden (J16) is again 'incomplete' to discourage local traffic. The motorway joins the M42 in both directions, with northbound traffic taking
1595-452: The B4009 for Lewknor , Watlington , and Chinnor . This junction is a variant on the diamond interchange, with the slip roads from the M40 having sharp bends. Just over 1 mile (1.6 km) after junction 6 the motorway passes to within 330 feet (100 m) of St Giles Church, Tetsworth and 2 miles (3.2 km) farther on meets the first of three junctions in close succession. Junction 7
1650-577: The Buckingham by-pass before joining the A43 ( Northampton — M40 junction 10) near Brackley . (On crossing the A43, the route due westward becomes the B4031 through Croughton , Aynho and Deddington to join the A361 to Chipping Norton ). The section from the A1 to the M1 is dual carriageway and fully grade-separated, with the section between Bedford and the M1 completed in December 2010, winning
1705-543: The London-bound M40; and a five-lane cross-link between the M40 and the A404(S). In 2009 the Highways Agency extended the Active Traffic Management (ATM) system onto the northbound carriageway from J16 to the junction with the M42. Beaconsfield services opened in 2009, near the site of the service station proposed at Abbey Barns almost 40 years earlier. In August 2010 work started on J9, upgrading
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1760-515: The London-bound carriageway which used to be accessed from the roundabout is now reached only via the services. The design and execution of the revised design of new junction is greatly derided, mostly because of the three roundabouts giving no priority to the main flow of traffic, (A43-M40 London), and the slip roads off and onto the motorway (except the one accessed via the services) have sharp turns and adverse cambers, which results in lorries frequently tipping over and spilling their loads especially on
1815-405: The M1. Junction 10 was originally a dumbbell junction. The capacity of both the junction and the single carriageway A43 proved too small when the road was used as a freight thoroughfare from the congested M1 to the M40 to London, and the A34 at junction 9 to the south coast — in fact the 5 miles (8.0 km) stretch between these junctions is the busiest on the motorway in both directions. When
1870-860: The UK base of Ariston (now owned by Indesit ) and the UK headquarters of Staples are based in High Wycombe. The UK base of Robert Bosch is in Denham , near Gerrards Cross. Pioneer UK is in Stoke Poges and the Barracuda Group (owner of Varsity ) is in Marlow , both locations being near the motorway. Kraft Foods Banbury , Westminster group plc , Prodrive and Ascari Cars all have offices or are based in Banbury . The head office of Travelodge UK
1925-480: The current congested single carriageway road between West Bletchley and the A43 . In March 2021, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps cancelled the plan, citing analysis that showed that its costs would exceed its benefits. The A421 Tingewick bypass has a minor claim to fame as the location of the then fastest speeding incident ever recorded by British police, in March 2003. Andrew Osborne, 31, of Leamington Spa ,
1980-459: The extra traffic. The London-bound M40 enters with four lanes, with a lane drop for the M25 exit, leaves with three lanes, and the westbound M40 enters with lanes and gains a lane from the anti-clockwise M25. After junction 1a the motorway is four lanes, and carries on for 3 miles (4.8 km) until it reaches junction 2 for the A355 to Slough and the A40 to Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross. Junction 2
2035-528: The government for these works, as part of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership "Local Growth Deal". As part of the government's pinch point reduction programme, in 2014 work commenced on the A421 in Milton Keynes to improve the Kingston roundabout, and dual the section from it to (near) the Bedfordshire border, with the construction of two new roundabouts on the route. The road corridor includes
2090-611: The last major motorway to be built in Britain, but in 1986 the Conservative government announced a major new road-building scheme, Roads for Prosperity , much of which was cancelled in 1996 after major road protests . Beginning in 1997, the motorway was widened to dual-four-lane between J1A and J3 (High Wycombe East) under a Private Finance Initiative . It was completed by a Carillion - John Laing joint venture in October 1998 –
2145-410: The left lane to exit eastbound, eventually forming the outer lanes of the M42 via a tight-bending two lane connecting road, and the right lanes being taken eastbound. Similarly, southbound, eastbound traffic from the M42 splits off from the outer two lanes, whereas westbound traffic of the M42 has a single lane, widening to a two lane slip road, which merges with the middle lane and forms the outer lane of
2200-547: The local grid road H8 Standing Way . During this time it crosses the A5 (and connects to it via a short spur which is part of the V6 Grafton Street ). Continuing westwards, as the route approaches Buckingham the road passes close by to the 14th century Thornborough Bridge , the only surviving mediaeval bridge in Buckinghamshire which was bypassed by the new bridge in 1974. Close to here, it then forms
2255-430: The northbound carriageway and access to the southbound M40. The junction is completed 2 miles (3.2 km) farther on at junction 14, another restricted access junction, with access to the A452 from the southbound M40, and the access on to the motorway is in a northbound direction. The slip roads join at a roundabout and carry on as the single carriageway A452 to meet with the A452 to Leamington Spa, A425 to Warwick, and
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2310-609: The original plan included widening between J3 and J4. Oxford services and Warwick Services opened in 1998. Work to separate local and long-distance traffic at J4 was completed in 2007, including a new dedicated left-turn slip lane between the A404 Marlow Bypass and the Oxford-bound M40; additional lanes on the slip roads entering the roundabout; an additional lane between the A404 Marlow Hill and
2365-460: The other direction has to use the trumpet junction, and follow the A418 past Oxford services . The M40 heads north from junction 8A. This was the temporary end of the M40 before the northern section was open. Visible either side of the junction are the embankments and remains of the overbridge which carried the Wycombe railway line. The motorway continues for 12 miles (19 km) to junction 9 for
2420-495: The rest of the route, and the London-bound carriageway gains a lane. The motorway then immediately crosses the valley on a large ramp-like bridge. Junction 4 is the interchange with the A404, for High Wycombe , Marlow , Maidenhead , Reading , Windsor and the M4 . The motorway through the junction was not widened from the original two lanes when the rest of the motorway from junction 8 to London was, and so both carriageways experience
2475-651: The road briefly multiplexes with the A600 before crossing the A6001 and bypassing Stotfold . Crossing the A1 at junction 10 of the A1(M), where the motorway becomes a normal A-road, the A507 then heads south east through Baldock . After bridging over the A505 (here being the recently opened Baldock north-south bypass) it terminates at a roundabout with the A10 at Buntingford. In 2008,
2530-498: The roundabout and provision for the London-bound M40 to skip the section of the roundabout which serves the A4010, High Wycombe , and the A404 north. Junction 5 is for the A40 and Stokenchurch , a basic diamond interchange and the fourth junction of the M40 with the A40. Within a mile there is a large road cutting known as the Stokenchurch Gap or The Canyon where the motorway enters Oxfordshire and meets junction 6 with
2585-498: The roundabout at the end of the northern carriageway. The junction fails to perform its function as an effective traffic junction. As well, the slip roads onto the motorway give little manoeuvring space as both join the motorway under (the same) bridge built for the old junction. The motorway then follows a winding route north for 10 miles (16 km) until junction 11, the A422 and A361 , serving Banbury . The motorway does not follow
2640-677: The section around Banbury starting in February 1988, and finally, the section north of Oxford in July 1989. The section between the M42 and Warwick opened in December 1989, and the remainder in January 1991. At the time of being fully opened, the original M40 had been widened, creating a dual three-lane motorway from start to finish, with the exception of the Handy Cross underpass, which remains dual two-lane. The M40 had been expected to be
2695-495: The southbound M40. The following table only includes places situated near the motorway and those close enough to be considered 'near the motorway' (like Aylesbury ). Other places that may use the motorway (for access to the north) are not included as they have other motorway access (for example Slough ). Small villages are not included. Population figures are based on the 2001 census by the Office for National Statistics George Wimpey , RAF Air Command , Hyundai UK , Dreams ,
2750-539: The southbound exit slip road to three lanes, and similar widening on the connecting A34 and A41 junctions between Oxford and Bicester . This was the first part of the work at this busy junction since it was built 20 years earlier. If the necessary funding becomes available, a second phase of improvement will be carried out, upgrading the northbound entrance and the A41 southbound entrance. Download coordinates as: Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where
2805-399: The straight route to the east of Middleton Cheney, meeting with the A422, as it had once been planned, due to a major landowner refusing his land to be cut in two. If built as planned, junction 11 would be east of Middleton Cheney, meeting with the A422, and probably would have fuelled major growth in the village as well as Banbury, the primary destination of the junction. As it is, the junction
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#17327824963282860-400: Was built 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west along the A422, with the motorway skirting Banbury. The junction itself is a regular roundabout interchange, and has the single carriageway A361 from Daventry the dual-carriageway A422 from Brackley and the A43 from the west, and the dual-carriageway A422 (A361) toward Banbury feeding to/from it. Another 12 miles (19 km) north-west along the motorway
2915-413: Was examined in a Strategic Study for the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor , published by National Infrastructure Commission in November 2016. The NIC saw the road as being of national strategic importance by providing an outer orbital route around London , linking Southampton , the M3 , M4 , M40 , M1 , A1 , A14 / M11 and Felixstowe . Had this plan been realised, it would have replaced
2970-429: Was filmed by a mobile speed camera while travelling at 157 miles per hour (253 km/h) on a motorcycle. His friend Neil Bolger, 30, of Gaydon , was clocked at 148 miles per hour (238 km/h). Both were convicted of dangerous driving, imprisoned for 28 days and banned from driving for two years (with a compulsory re-test). Blind Martine Brooks drove along the newly constructed A421 Great Barford Bypass (From
3025-407: Was made. The preferred route was altered to avoid Otmoor after a vigorous road protest, which included selling over 3,000 small squares of a field to people all over the world. The field had been renamed 'Alice's field' as a reference to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll who lived in the area at the time of the book's writing. Construction began at Warwick in October 1987, with work on
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