 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 M45 highlighted in blue | ||||
 NearBarby, Northamptonshire, 2005 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byNational Highways | ||||
| Length | 7.9 mi (12.7 km) | |||
| Existed | 1959–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| East end | Watford Gap | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| West end | Thurlaston | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Primary destinations | Rugby,Coventry | |||
| Road network | ||||
| ||||
TheM45 is amotorway inNorthamptonshire andWarwickshire, England and is 7.9 miles (12.7 km) long. It runs between junction 17 of theM1 motorway south east ofRugby and a junction with theA45 road southwest of Rugby. It has one of the lowest traffic volumes of the United Kingdom motorway system.[citation needed]
Built in 1959 when the M1 (as part of a link from London toBirmingham) went as far as Junction 18, the M45 was designed to dissipate some of the motorway traffic before the M1 terminated.[1] Its equivalent at the southern end of the M1 is the formerM10, which was downgraded on 1 May 2009 to become part of theA414.
As the signposted route to Birmingham, accompanied by a boom in private motor ownership in the 1960s, the M45 (and its effective continuation, the final 30 miles (48 km) or so along the predominantly dual carriageway A45), formed a key leg of one of the busiest roads in Britain.[2]
In 1972, the opening of theM6 parallel to the north provided a much faster route through to theWest Midlands from London. Most traffic diverted to this route, and since January 1991 additional West Midlands traffic,[3] whether to the south of that region, or from the south side of London has often used theM40 motorway parallel to the south, leaving the route with only a fraction of its previous traffic.
A limited-access junction (Eastbound exit and Westbound entry) was added in September 1991,[citation needed] around two-thirds of the way along from the M1, south ofDunchurch, the main southern suburban village (to Rugby) nearby. Apart from this, the motorway is very much in its 'as-built' condition and unlike its feeder motorway, the M1 its land use has not expanded, in a county that has three motorways running east–west almost wholly across it,Warwickshire. The choice of routes means that logistics operations are an important part of the economy ofCoventry andRugby.
 | This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections whichshould be presented in a properly formatted junction table. Please consultthis guideline for information on how to create one. Pleaseimprove this article if you can.(December 2021) |
Data fromdriver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.[4]
| M45 motorway junctions | |||||
| miles | km | Westbound exits (A carriageway) | Junction | Eastbound exits (B carriageway) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.7 | 12.4 | Coventry,Rugby, A45 DunchurchB4429 | J1 | Start of motorway | |
| 6.0 | 9.7 | No access | Daventry A45 | ||
| EnteringWarwickshire | EnteringNorthamptonshire | ||||
| 0.1 | 0.2 | Start of motorway | M1, J17 | The south,Northampton M1 | |
Notes
| |||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
Media related toM45 motorway at Wikimedia Commons
| Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||
| Former | |||||||||||||||||||
| Unbuilt | |||||||||||||||||||
| Junctions | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bridges | |||||||||||||||||||
| Related articles | |||||||||||||||||||
