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M40 motorway

{{UK motorway routebox| motorway= M40
length-mi= 89length-km= 144direction= Southeast - Northweststart= London
Uxbridge		destinations= Beaconsfield
High Wycombe
Oxford
Banbury
Warwick
Royal Leamington Spa
Stratford-upon-Avon
Birmingham		end= Earlswood - Warwickshireopening-date= 1967completion-date= 1991junctions= 1A -

M25 motorway

M42 motorway

The M40 in Warwickshire

The M40 motorway is the second motorway in the English transport network to connect London to Birmingham.

The M40 was constructed in stages with the first section from Handycross to Stokenchuch (Juctions 4-5) opening in 1967. In 1969 a temporary juction (Junction 2*) was built at Holtspur just outside of Beaconsfied that carried the motorway to the first section at Handycross (Junction 4). The Beaconsfield bypass (Junction 2) which was part of the motorway was built in 1971 and the Gerrards Cross Bypass (Junctions 1-2) conecting to this was completed in 1973. Junctions 5-8 Pitmore to Chilworth just outside of Oxford were completed in 1974. Construction from Birmingham to Oxford (the "missing link") started in 1988 from the M42 near Longbrige (Junctions 15 - M42) and finishing with construction through Warwickshire and the Cherwell Valley in 1991 linking Junction 15 to Junction 8. The motorway opened for its full length of 89 miles in 1991. The M40 was to be the last major motorway construction in the UK however during the final stages of construction the Conservative government of the time announced a major new road building scheme.

When the motorway was first opened it carried surprisingly little traffic (compared, for instance, to the M25, which was congested from the start). The reason was said to be the lack of motorway service areas, which kept HGV traffic in particular from using the route, the M1 and M6, or A34, being existing routes to Birmingham. Now that service areas exist, traffic is heavy.

The M40 motorway hit the headlines on 18 November 1993. The previous night a minibus, carrying 15 pupils from Hagley R.C High School in Worcestershire back from a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, crashed on the motorway near Warwick after the teacher driving the minibus allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. Ten pupils and the teacher died at the scene; two more pupils died within the next three days as a result of their injuries. The two pupils who survived went on to make a full recovery from their injuries and were discharged from hospital within a week. The tragedy resulted in seatbelts becoming compulsory equipment on all buses and coaches, although it is still not compulsory for them to be worn.

Route of the M40

The M40 begins at the Denham Roundabout near Uxbridge just east of the M25 and finishes at the M42 near Birmingham.

List of Junctions

{| border=1 cellpadding=2 style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom: 1em; color: black; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"|- align="center" bgcolor="0080d0" style="color: white;font-size:120%;"		 M40 Motorway|- align="center" bgcolor="000000" style="color: white"Eastbound exitsJunctionWestbound exits
London A40 Slough A412 Uxbridge A40201Start of Motorway
Watford, Rickmansworth, Slough, Heathrow Airport M251AWatford, Rickmansworth, Slough, Heathrow Airport M25
Beaconsfield, Amersham, Slough A3552Beaconsfield, Amersham, Slough A355
No Access3High Wycombe East A40
High Wycombe, Marlow, Maidenhead A4044High Wycombe, Marlow A404
High Wycombe West, Stokenchurch A405Stokenchurch A40
Watlington, Princes Risborough B40096Thame, Watlington, Princes Risborough B4009
No Access7Thame, Wallingford, A329
No Access8Oxford, Cheltenham A40
Thame, Aylesbury A418 Oxford A40 Oxford Services8AThame, Aylesbury A418 Oxford A40 Oxford Services
Bicester, Aylesbury A41 Oxford, Newbury A349Bicester A41 Oxford, Newbury A34
Northampton A43 B430 Cherwell Valley Services10Northampton A43 B430 Cherwell Valley Services
Banbury A422 A36111Banbury A422 A361
Gaydon B445112Gaydon B4451
Warwick Services
No Access13Leamington, Warwick A452 B4100
Leamington A45214No Access
Warwick A429 Stratford, Coventry A4615Warwick A429 Stratford, Coventry A46
Henley A340016No Access
Start of MotorwayM42 J3ABirmingham Solihull, NEC, Birmingham Airport, Redditch, THE SOUTH WEST, THE NORTH M42

An anecdote

The fact that the M40 led from London to Oxford and the M11 from London to Cambridge led to a famous sketch in one episode of the BBC's sitcom Yes, Minister. Jim Hacker, a Government minister and a lead character in the show, pondered why Britain had fast motorways to these ancient university towns but not to important seaports such as Dover and Felixstowe. Sir Humphrey Appleby, his Department's Permanent Secretary, explained that the motorway network had been designed by civil servants, all of whom had been educated at one university or the other. The general Civil Service attitude can be summed up by Sir Humphrey's expostulation in another episode: "Of course I believe in universities, Minister: both of them!"

Trivia

* The M40 features in the film Thunderbird 6, where it doubles for the fictional M104 motorway. The M40 had not been opened to traffic at the time.
* The M40 features in the opening titles of The Vicar of Dibley. The titles show a bird's eye view of the Chiltern scarp affording a fine view of the Oxfordshire countryside.
* Travelling eastbound as you approach London and on the left hand side, a long concrete wall bordering a forest area is daubed with the words "why do I do this every day?". The author of this "work" is not known but it is likely a message to the thousands of commuters that drive by every weekday morning. The graffiti has been mentioned on the BBC motoring programme, Top Gear.
* In 2005 The Stokenchurch Gap featured in the BBC's Seven Natural Wonders of The South, presented by Aubrey Manning.

See also

*List of motorways in the United Kingdom
*Transport in England
*British Road Numbering Scheme

External links

*Seven Natural Wonders of the South
* CBRD Motorway Database - M40



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