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The M10 was a
Highways Agency Leaflet (PDF)
/ref> As traffic could now travel between Hemel Hempstead and Park Street Roundabout without having to access the M1, there was no need to keep the M10 as a motorway. Hence, on 1 May 2009, the M10 was downgraded to an
Roads.org.uk Motorway Database – M10
Pathetic Motorways – M10
{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0010 Former motorways of the United Kingdom Roads in Hertfordshire Buildings and structures completed in 1959 Motorways in England
The M10 was a motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
, England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, running for approximately 3 miles (4.5 km) southeast from the M1 motorway
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...
at junction 7 near Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...
to the A414
The A414 is a major road in England, which connects the towns of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire and Maldon in Essex. The road commences at the A41, at a junction west of Hemel, and travels through the town to junction 8 of the M1 motorway a ...
North Orbital Road at Park Street Roundabout, just south of St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
. Opened in 1959, it was reclassified as part of the A414 in 2009 having only been a spur motorway for about 50 years.
History
The M10 opened on 2 November 1959 along with the M1 and M45, and was designed and constructed by Tarmac Construction as part of the St Albans bypass (along with the M1 between junctions 5 and 10). At the time, the M1's southern terminus was at junction 5 at Berrygrove, with the main route from there to the A1 in London being via the A41Watford
Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne.
Initially a smal ...
Bypass. Since the capacity of the A roads was much less than that of the motorway, a distributing spur was required to split up the traffic and reduce congestion at Berrygrove. The M10 was thus built to distribute southbound traffic on the M1 onto the A5 (now A5183) and, as an alternative, via the North Orbital Road and the A6 to the A1 Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
*Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
Bypass.
The M45 was the equivalent distributing spur at the northern end of the M1, and is thus regarded as a sister motorway to the M10.
In later years, as the M1 was extended southwards into London and the M25 was built, the M10's original purpose eroded. It was sometimes suggested that the motorway might have been extended to meet the M25 at junction 22, but this was never proposed.
Downgrade
In December 2008, widening of the M1 between the M25 andLuton
Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census.
Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
was completed, with non-motorway collector/distributor lanes built to link junction 8 of the M1, at Hemel Hempstead, with junction 7 and the M10./ref> As traffic could now travel between Hemel Hempstead and Park Street Roundabout without having to access the M1, there was no need to keep the M10 as a motorway. Hence, on 1 May 2009, the M10 was downgraded to an
A road
A roads may be
*motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian).
* main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...
, and designated as part of the A414. This also released the "M10" designation for use elsewhere.
This also had the added bonus of allowing lorries to park when waiting for access to a proposed rail freight depot. Otherwise if the proposed rail freight depot went ahead and it had remained a motorway there would have been nowhere for lorries to wait.
Junctions
See also
*List of motorways in the United Kingdom
This list of motorways in the United Kingdom is a complete list of motorways in the United Kingdom. Note that the Great Britain road numbering scheme, numbering scheme used for Great Britain does not include roads in Northern Ireland, which are ...
References
External links
Roads.org.uk Motorway Database – M10
Pathetic Motorways – M10
{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0010 Former motorways of the United Kingdom Roads in Hertfordshire Buildings and structures completed in 1959 Motorways in England