Secrets of The Motorway - M11

#motorways #M11 #infrastructure

Welcome back to another episode of Secrets of the Motorway. Today we look at the M11 that runs from Woodford in London to Girton near Cambridge.

What secrets will we uncover on this 55 mile journey... secret junctions, forgotten service stations, ghost slip roads and abandoned motorways, it's all going on.

In this series we aim to explore what our motorway network is hiding. As we drive along at the 70mph..ish...we simply just wouldn't be aware of what we're missing. This series aims to uncover some of the hidden secrets our motorways have to offer.

Twitter - @Jonshenanigans

Thanks and image credits:

HollowayTyres

[BLX]

this channel is the roadway version of jago hazzard

[bobshop]

Fun facts about the M11 from someone who grew up and used it as a commuting route for too many years of his life: the gap southbound on the m11 from Duxford at 10 to Stansted at 8 is the second longest motorway junction without an official off ramp its 19 miles, you can travel the whole length of the m11 via back roads without leaving any further than 1.5 miles as the crow flies, cambridge to Stansted you can narrow it down to nearly half a mile!
The foundations for junctions 11-14 were made up entirely from crushed up concrete from nearby former RAF base now known as Bassingbourn barracks additional sub base material from RAF Duxford now Duxford air museums former 1830m runway was shortened to about 1500m the first concorde prototype g-axdn which after just 6 years and about 270 odd flights was gifted to the newly formed imperial war museum at Duxford aerodrome. The 330m of concrete made up the foundations of junction 10 to 9.
If joining the m11 from.the a120 heading from Chelmsford/ Thaxted is is easily possible to accidently join the m11 instead of taking the incredibly complex off the a120 down to the roundabout up the slip road round the Birchanger green roundabout and off the slip road and on to the m11 easy in theory til you actually drive it without sat nav! Despite being 53 miles long it only intersects with 4 railway lines Brighton to Cambridge Thames link line, Liverpool Street to Cambridge commuter line, the Stansted express spur, and the chigwell loop of the Central line, there is a secret exit on to the b1038 northbound and entranceway southbound! The m11 was meant to go all the way north and join with the a1 but at the time the a45 was a North to South East mish mash route of various sections of dual carriageway now known as the a14, despite being built only 10 years after closing there was no scope for the Oxford to Cambridge railway to ever be reopened the m11 went straight through the old track and trackbed with no infrastructure or access for the route.

[andygriffith]

3:27 And there it is, just visible on the left carriageway, the world's most important road sign. It helpfully informs you that the left-hand lane is for the M11, the middle lane is for the M11 and the right-hand lane is for the M11. I simply can't imagine what chaos would ensue if that weren't there.

[suffolkandgood]

Did you know…

The runway at Duxford was actually longer, however having the M11 built and cutting off the end of it, it means that the B52 Stratofortress on display there will never be able to take off because the runway is now too short…?

Now you do!

[RattersMedia]

love the use of Gran Turismo 4 music, top tier soundtrack

[MrKenny]

I didn’t imagine the motorways would have such fascinating stories and artefacts from their development. Excellent presenter too.

[pluxauag]

These are excellent, again for any enthusiasts and Auto Shenanigans, have a look at Peter Dibble channel on what's left of the Old Portland Freeway in the USA and the ghost junctions, removal of an integral motorway/freeway and the style its done in. These are superb and I have a feeling the viewer counts by next year will be in the millions as various channel viewers cross over and see these works. Looking forward to the next one. The M11/M25 Whirlpool Intersection is a must video to do.

[motorwaysuk]

Other than the motorway services series, I’ve not watched any of the other series but I think this is the most interesting series so far on this channel.

[sameyers]

A bit of trivia is when the Humber Bridge was built the intention was for the M11 to continue up and cross the bridge then head across to link up with the A1 near York, however that section was never built

[davidrobert]

Congratulations on 10k subscribers - I don't think I've ever seen a channel grow so fast in a few weeks! Keep up the good work (insert thumbs up emoji here)

[its_matt_long]

Amazing how much content you squeeze into 7mins... happy to have double that!

[lee.m.bennett]

You missed a fun fact at J10 next to Duxford airfield/museum, they had to land the Concorde on full runway and then shortened runway to build the M11. If they ever tried to fly the Concorde out again (unlikely of course), the runways now too short.

[StoatM]

This is great stuff! Feels a little like the content of Geoff Marshall, Paul and Rebecca Whitewick, maybe a bit of Martin Zero, but with an automotive spin. Love it, subscribed!

[ianhowlett]

5:35 The Girton Interchange is easily spotted from the air, due to the two circles, so is often used as a navigation point when setting off in a light aircraft from Cambridge Airport. To pilots it is known as the Dog’s Bollocks, due to this shape.

[peterb]

Fascinating! I went to West Hatch school from 1970-77 and we watched the M11 being built at the bottom of the playing fields and did cross country running over the earthworks and up Luxborough Lane. One nasty incident happened at the controlled crossing near Roding Lane - two women were killed when one of the huge earthmovers ran over them. I can’t imagine how busy the old A11 would be now if it had never been built.

[jonmarshall]

Far more interesting than our boring motorways in NZ. Your videos are like modern archeological expeditions.

[k.r.baylor]

Thanks for adding the map for us non-UK viewers, who would have no idea where these dual carriageways are located around Britain.

[dom.b]

Really enjoy your videos John. Thanks for sharing and keep em coming.

[Pittodrie]

Thanks for your videos John, I’m 65 later this year and love motorways, as a child mum and dad took me on holiday to the south of England, the M6 and M5 are my favourites. Thanks again, keep them coming..

[EnergeticAdvantage]

The ghost sliproad at the Girton interchange was substantially worse than that. The now removed part was for Westbound A14 traffic to stay on the A14, which you had to merge across if you wanted to get from the M11 to the Eastbound A14. The Avenue had a tiny junction on the A14, as did many other villages further North, which now have bridges to the A1307.