The M18 is 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 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It runs from the east of

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. According to the 2011 UK census, Goole parish had a population of 19,518, an increa ...

and is approximately long. A section of the road forms part of the unsigned

Euroroute The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Centr ...

E13.

Route

The M18 runs in a northeast–southwest direction from junction 32 of the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass, whic ...

to junction 35 of the

M62 motorway The M62 is a west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of t ...

. It passes east of

, southeast of

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

and

Armthorpe Armthorpe is a large village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a population of 12,630, increasing to 14,457 at the 2011 Census. Histor ...

, and west of Thorne. It meets the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

at junction 2 (A1(M) junction 35)--known as the Wadworth Interchange—and the

M180 motorway The M180 is a motorway in eastern England, starting at junction 5 on the M18 motorway in Hatfield, within the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and terminating at Barnetby, Lincolnshire, some from the port of Immingham an ...

at junction 5. Access to Doncaster is provided from junctions 3 ( A6182) and 4 ( A630) The middle half of the M18 is a two-lane dual carriageway, and carries relatively low volumes of traffic. However, the M1 to A1(M) section and M180 to M62 section are much busier, with three lanes in each direction, and there is a small three-lane section northbound between junctions 2 and 3. It passes over the Wadworth Viaduct at junction 2. To the north it then crosses the

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain runni ...

, and until its closure and the dismantling of the pit head gear, a large colliery could be seen to the south at Rossington.

History

* Junction 1 to Junction 2 opened in 1967 * Junction 5 to Junction 6 opened in 1972 * Junction 6 to Junction 7 opened in 1975 * Junction 4 to Junction 5 opened in 1977 * Junction 2 to Junction 4 opened in 1979 The M18 was originally to be part of the M1, but it was decided to route the M1 towards

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

instead of

, and the routing of what would have been the M1 east of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

became the M18. In order to provide better access to

town centre and the new Great Yorkshire Way to

Doncaster Sheffield Airport Doncaster Sheffield Airport , formerly named and commonly referred to as Robin Hood Airport, is an unscheduled international airport closed to passenger traffic. The airport is located in Finningley near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. ...

, the section of the M18 between junctions 2 and 3 northbound was upgraded to 3 lanes, between 20 June 2014 and 12 June 2015.

Junctions

Data from

driver location signs Driver location signs are signs placed every along each side of English motorways, and some other major English roads, to provide information that will allow motorists to know their precise location. , roads in England, but not Scotland, Wale ...

are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.Traffic England Live Traffic Condition Map
''Highways Agency'' – Locations extracted from Traffic Camera Popup identifier text The location sequence is a continuation of the M1 location sequence. {, style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em; color:black; font-size:95%;" class="wikitable" , - style="background:#0080d0; text-align:center; color:white; font-size:120%;" , colspan="6" , M18 motorway junctions , - !scope=col, miles !scope=col, km !scope=col abbr="Southbound", Southbound exits (B carriageway) !scope=col, Junction !scope=col abbr="Northbound", Northbound exits (A carriageway) !scope=col, Coordinates , - align="center" , 156.8 , 252.4 , The SOUTH,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

M1 , M1, J32 , ''Start of motorway'' , , - style="text-align:center;" , 158.5 , 255.1 , Rotherham A631 , J1 , Rotherham A631 , , - style="text-align:center;" , 163.8 , 263.6 , Newark,

A1(M) , J2 , The NORTH, The SOUTH A1(M) , , - style="text-align:center;" , 165.9 , 267.1 ,

A6182 , J3 , Doncaster A6182
Doncaster Sheffield , , - style="text-align:center;" , 171.8 , 276.5 , Doncaster A630 , J4 , Doncaster A630 , , - style="text-align:center;" , 175.8 , 283.0 ,

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an Industrial city, industrial town and unparished area in the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an es ...

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

, Doncaster Sheffield ,

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West ...

M180
'' Doncaster North services'' , J5
''Services'' , Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster Sheffield , Humberside M180
''Doncaster North Services'' , , - style="text-align:center;" , 177.8 , 286.2 , Thorne A614 , J6 , Thorne A614 , , - style="text-align:center;" , , , style=background:skyblue , ''Entering

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

'' , , style=background:skyblue , ''Entering

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

'' , , - style="text-align:center;" , 182.7 , 294.0 , ''Start of motorway'' , J7 , The NORTH (A1(M)),

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the Uni