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Original poster

Is there a motorway junction worse than M1 J31

101 replies

didihearthatright123456 · 21/09/2021 12:05

I absolutely bloody hate it, it's so dangerous. You get on and then immediately have to cross 2 lanes if you don't want to go down the M18, then cars already on the M1 are looking to cross into the left lanes to exit the M18, so you get this criss crossing mayhem that always gives me a squeaky bum. It's surely got to be one of the most poorly thought out junctions in the UK

Any challenges out there who can beat it???

OP posts:
DuesToTheDirt · 21/09/2021 15:48

M8 through Glasgow, where as well as junctions very close together, there are slip roads leaving from the right hand side. WTF.

Couldhavebeenme3 · 21/09/2021 16:05

@Hernameisdeborah

Junction 43 of the M1, where it meets the M621. Traffic criss-crossing each other as they move right to stay on the M1 or go over towards Leeds. That annoys me. Junction 11 of the M1 always seems to be the Junction of Boy Racers. Love this thread already!!
This is horrid - southbound the M621 merges from the right with the M1, then the left hand lanes go off to the M62. Northbound the M62 merges with the M1 from the left, then the right hand lanes become the M621.

I travel this way a few times a week, its very unusual for there not to be horrendous queues and frequent accidents.

MasterBeth · 21/09/2021 16:05

@BarbaraofSeville

The signage leaving Birmingham on M42 is indeed, a choice between THE NORTH WEST (go right) and THE NORTH (go left) when I am heading for the East Midlands. It’s batshit crazy

I get confused here a lot. To get to the M1 north, ie Nottingham and up, at one point you have to follow a sign that says 'The South'. The saving grace is that if you're going somewhere like Leeds, you can actually get there by going up the M6 North and then M62 East, and it's actually a shorter journey depending on where in Leeds you want to end up.

Of course, you'd be utterly mad to go up the M6 and round the M60 by choice as it's almost always quicker to go the M42/M1 even if it's slightly further.

The additional challenge on this journey I should mention is that, in my head, I am travelling West to East (West Midlands to East Midlands), in reality it’s in a north-easterly direction, and then it offers the NORTH/NORTH-WEST choice, with the “wrong” directions at the fork.
Lockdownbear · 21/09/2021 16:33

@DuesToTheDirt

M8 through Glasgow, where as well as junctions very close together, there are slip roads leaving from the right hand side. WTF.
The ones that leave on the right aren't as scary as the ones that arrive.
Bratnews · 21/09/2021 17:43

Agree with the M8 through Glasgow roads on and off the right hand lane. Is complete madness

JayAlfredPrufrock · 21/09/2021 17:46

There’s a junction on the M60 where you join in the fast lane. My DD’s first experience of motorway driving.

“Put your foot down love”.

RampantIvy · 21/09/2021 17:47

I see a lot of posts about the M42. I agree. You have to keep leaving the M42 to stay on it, and really need your wits about you.

PixiKitKat · 21/09/2021 17:55

The A1 going north where it merges onto the A1 but the left lane is for the A64 and then you have 4 lanes off people crossing over to either continue on the A1 or moving the other way to the A64.
I always get into the far right lane to merge as early as possible the get over to the right again to get away from swerving cars.

DuesToTheDirt · 21/09/2021 18:58

@Bratnews

Agree with the M8 through Glasgow roads on and off the right hand lane. Is complete madness
Many years ago after I passed my test, my dad took me on a motorway. He told me to take the next exit, and I asked which side it was on. He said, "It's on the left, it's always on the left." Guess he'd never been to Glasgow!
Twofurrycats · 21/09/2021 19:05

@JayAlfredPrufrock I detest that junction.

MyPatronusIsACat · 21/09/2021 19:18

Not RTFT. But I hate Spaghetti Junction in Brum, and there's a horrible interchange down Oxford way, but I can't remember exactly where. It's en route from Brum to Oxford. Don't think I have experienced J31 on the M1.

Cabbagepie · 21/09/2021 19:39

M6, Junction 25 near Bredbury - slip road joins the motorway straight into the 'fast'lane. Madness!

ConsulTremas · 21/09/2021 19:42

Is it Jct 3 of the M60 where you join in the third lane rather than the first? Always think it’s pretty dreadful.

SturminsterNewton · 21/09/2021 19:45

M27/M271 Portsmouth turn off. Lots of juggling to get in the right lane and to/not to end up on Portsea Island. Then to get in the middle lane so not to be filtered off again.

DuesToTheDirt · 21/09/2021 19:51

Not a motorway, but the A68 Dalkeith bypass has awful sliproads. There are a couple which have a very restricted view of the traffic already on the bypass, e.g. due to a sharp bend in the sliproad. At these points the A68 only has one lane. So you have to slow right down to get a good look, then if there's a gap you need to speed up quickly to get in it. Thankfully it's not hugely busy, but still not much fun, especially in a horsebox with poor acceleration!

Powaqa · 21/09/2021 19:54

@BogRollBOGOF

I raise you M6 j7... accessed from the inside of the roundabout to get on northbound and off southbound.

I still remember my friend's expletives as I suddenly warned him with 15 seconds notice Grin

I'm sure some M8 experts will be along soon...

Totally agree, the number of near misses that I have seen there is frightening
ArblemarchTFruitbat · 21/09/2021 19:57

All of the M60.

Navigator: 'You need to move over a lane'
Driver: 'No, I don't ... oh, sorry, yes I do.'
Navigator: 'Oh, sorry, no, stay in this lane!'

... and vice-versa, and repeat.

CraftyGin · 21/09/2021 19:58

@DuesToTheDirt

M8 through Glasgow, where as well as junctions very close together, there are slip roads leaving from the right hand side. WTF.
My first motorway driving after passing my test (1982) took me through Glasgow.

I could not believe the bullets entering to the left and right of me. They didn't teach motorway driving in those days.

I was with my mother who did not drive so absolutely no help. She was only interested in getting to Ayr. We returned to Edinburgh on the Lanark Road.

BrendaBubbles · 21/09/2021 20:00

Try the one in the middle of Leeds where the slip lanes just end suddenly. You basically have to stop if there’s traffic due to the lack of visibility and the sharp angles

MrsMoastyToasty · 21/09/2021 20:07

May I add a ring road into the mix?

The Avon Ring Road around Bristol. A4174.

  1. It's not a ring (only goes from the north of the city to the south east side, so more of a crescent).
  2. Named after a county that no longer exists.
  3. Maintained by the 3 local authorities it passes through.
  4. Full of traffic lights. No over-bridges or slip roads to a roundabout below.
  5. The only remaining junction that was free of traffic lights is soon to become a "thru-about".
  6. Joins the M32 within yards of that motorways junction with the M4.

It's always bloody stuffed with traffic, being "improved ".

MyPatronusIsACat · 21/09/2021 20:07

@BogRollBOGOF

I raise you M6 j7... accessed from the inside of the roundabout to get on northbound and off southbound.

Agree. That one (The Great Barr interchange,) is a stinker.

Hangar Lane Gyratory in West London is a bit of a horror too!

Lockdownbear · 21/09/2021 20:08

I think what makes the M8 so scary is people being unsure of it and trying to jump lanes.
The on/offs from the fast lane and how close the junctions are together.
Apparently the M8 is the only motorway to go through a city centre. All the rest go round or at least that's what I was told.

Plantstrees · 21/09/2021 20:16

@notelegant

M27 Junction 12 eastbound - merging with the M275 with fast moving vehicles coming round a blind uphill bend - extremely dangerous and I avoid it at all costs.
Absolutely agree. The fast lane of the M27 ends abrubtly by joining the slow lane of the M275. I usually drive in the fast lane, keeping right all the way from A31 but always move into the left lane before that junction because if it's busy it is a complete nightmare.
madnessitellyou · 21/09/2021 20:48

Simister Island. I can only think the person who thought it was a good idea to not enable people to drive round the M60 continuously without taking your life into your own hand was on glue.

Since they stopped cars driving down Oxford Rd it is now an absolute pain to get to the university area and beyond. I end up doing endless loops to and from the A57(M).

funnelfanjo · 22/09/2021 08:45

Another Manchester one - Princess Parkway between M56 and j5 of the M60 with ridiculously short slip roads and if you’re wanting to join the M60 to go west it’s a wild ride to avoid the people trying to get on the parkway.

Still, the experience came in useful when I lived in the USA as where I lived every junction on a highway had a shared slip road - the same lane was used for people joining (ie speeding up) and leaving (ie slowing down). If you tried to join the highway and couldn’t get off the slip road you ended up coming if the junction instead. And as the road designer didn’t believe in roundabouts it was a big pain in the arse to get round several intersections to try again

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