No clue about what M11, A14 etc. is.. quick way to get familiar with various motorways and dual carriageways?

[LightningOne]

Hi,
I've had my driving license for a few years now but only recently bought my first car. Whenever people mention in conversation, "The M11 was closed, super busy, etc. so had to go via the e.g. A14" I'm super confused as I have no idea what any of it means. Is there a quick way to get familiar with the major motorways/dual carriage ways etc.?

As I understand it, an "A" is a dual carriageway, whilst an "M" is a motorway.. that's all I seem to know.

I live near London by the way.

Not all a roads are dual carriageway.

I'd start by looking at a map. See what are the main roads coming out of London.

Then perhaps plan some imaginary journeys.

They're the names of roads 'M' means motorway. An A road is a main road but not necessarily a dual carriageway.

The only way to get to know them is to look at a map. But honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Just familiarise yourself with the names of the roads you drive on, if you're worried about understanding traffic alerts, but other than that don't worry what they're called

This is useful:

www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-a-motorway-and-an-“A”-road

Get a large map book, the AA do them. Some pages are more detailed, but normally near the front there is a map of the whole country, which shows the major roads, and then another showing the M25 area.
You need to get a picture in your head of how it all links up, so A40 and M4 go west, M25 goes all round London, etc.

Look at a map and you will see that roads heading in similar directions have similar numbers, other than the M25 which goes all the way around London. Then like spokes on a wheel - the M1 goes north, M2 is south-east-ish, M3 to the south-west, M4 west, M40 north-west. The equivalent A roads are similarly numbered - so the A3, the A303 head in a similar direction to the M3 for example.

I am a little baffled. Have you never map read while somebody else is driving? (Okay in the era of satnav this is done less.)

M = motorways. A = A class roads. (Maybe larger than dual carriageway)

Numbering is easy.

M1 and A1 run north/south in approximately the 12 o'clock position from London.

The numbering then runs clockwise from London.

M2 runs east west to the east coast.

M3 runs east west to the south coast.

M4 runs east west to the west coast

Etc.

The roads in between have two digits to signify the position between the two major roads.

So the M11 isn't the M eleven, technically it's the M one one.

So the M40 is further north around the 'clock' than the M4

The M5 sort of breaks this as it runs from the west to the north. But the same numbering holds sort of true

Also the more digits a road has the more minor it will be. For example the A34 is much larger than the A341.

Hope that makes sense!

I am a bit of an anorak when it comes to maps. Also, I have done a lot of driving as we don't live near either family.

An ex neighbour of ours one explained how the motorway numbering system worked (he used to be an HGV driver). If you go clockwise north from London you will find that roads beginning with 1, eg the M1, M11 and A1 go north, roads that start with 2, eg M20, M2, M23 go south east and south, the M3 goes south west and the M4 and M40 go west.

It gets a bit more complicated once you leave London as the motorway numbering is all over the place.

I know what you mean if there are notices on the overhead gantries saying for example the A34 is closed, and I sit there wondering where it is. In that case it would be more helpful to say which junction the A34 goes from.

If you want to really go down a rabbit hole. There are lost motorways.

pathetic.org.uk/lost/

Satnav also will tell you the next road you want is the A720 etc.

I've been driving over 20 yrs and still confused why there seems to be multiple A14, A6 etc..

As all above. I would get an AA paper map and figure out some simple journeys, so from where you are to Southend for an ice cream for example.

When people day they'll take the A14 because the M11 is shut, it's familiarly with the local road network and alternatives they can take (there's a lot of road works on the A14 at the moment so I can imagine people wanting to have a back up route).

Websites like the AA travel are very useful for seeing where the are road closures etc so good to get familiar with.

Get a map. It's really easy to see when it's on paper.

Some A roads look very much like motorways, or they can have roundabouts or other junctions that cause bottlenecks and safety hazards.

But they can be a viable alternative and sometimes shorter, quicker or less traffic - When I was regularly travelling from Yorkshire to London for work, I always used the A1 not the M1 because even though it was about 1 mile longer and in theory a couple of minutes slower, in reality there was less traffic and quicker journey times on average - this is just knowledge that you gain from experience. Similarly, it is shorter and in theory quicker to go from my area of Leeds to the West Midlands via the M62 and M6 but I usually do M1/A42 because it is usually quicker.

You can buy a cheap roadmap in most supermarkets and even in the age of the sat nav I always keep one in the car because it is a lot easier to look at a map when you're in an area you are not familiar with to see a diversion around a problem than rely on your sat nav, which is likely to send you on local roads that then quickly get clogged up with others doing the same thing.

@starzig there aren't multiple roads with the same name. It is the same (very long) road. E.g. the A1 runs all the way from Edinburgh to London (with some parts of it upgraded to Motorway, thus those buts being called A1(M) ).

OP I know what you mean - I used to do driving for work and whilst I feel confident map reading (actually I rather enjoy a good map and even do that thing where you turn the map round as the road moves IYSWIM!) if it's an area/road I'm unfamiliar with I get very confused. Such as when a road or motorway which strictly speaking goes say east/west, a colleague would talk about "take the M-whatsit North" and I'm thinking "whaaaaat it doesn't go that way!" When they mean it as a connecting road to the North.
Totally get a map and other posters suggestion of thinking of an imaginary journey is a great one.

I've always loved maps so I'm shocked by your post but I suppose it's quite common these days (feels old.)

Looking at a map is definitely the best way to plan out a journey. I use a Satnav because I am rubbish at keeping a route in my head, and also if, say, a motorway is shut then the Satnav will normally route me round it ok. But I use the map to route plan in the first place (e.g. if I want to go a scenic route rather than the Satnav's two options of quickest or shortest distance) and enter some intermediate destinations to force the Satnav to take my chosen route.

Just pore over maps. Then get out there and drive! You will soon learn that the Satnav isn't always right (e.g. when I drove to south east London a lot it would always tell me to take the M1, whereas the A1 / A14 / M11 was almost always quicker as a PP has said.)

OP Definitely get a road map. You can also get OS maps for smaller areas. I have as most people do direction finding on an Iphone or smart phone but sometimes it goes wrong in rural areas especially.

What I do is use bing maps for a start and finish and rough timescale. But I do check it against the larger maps. Some postcodes are not reliable on satnav and sometimes as PPs have suggested, they don't go the easier faster route.

@Mitzimaybe , got to admit the op makes me feel old to. I didn't know that not understanding this stuff was fairly normal. I have a dreadful sense of direction - it's my kryptonite - and while I love sat nav I always fall back on paper maps.

I use sat nav but have a rough idea of the route in my head ( so I know what the major roads I need are in case the sat nav fails) I still find some roads attached to roads I don’t know but as long as I know they are not on my route I know I don’t need to worry too much.

My dd 11 loves a good paper map and will pour over OS maps when we are on holiday . I didn't realise it was a dying art.

A roads starting with a 5 or a 6 are all in northern England. A roads and motorways starting with a 7 or 8 are in Scotland.
A roads on Scottish islands may be single track roads with passing places ...and sheep... loads of the bastards.

The M11 / A14 cross near Cambridge so not really anywhere near London. You just get used to the roads you regularly travel on. Sounds like you don’t travel outside of London much? I have no idea about the London tube lines as don’t use often, horses for courses.

Road Atlas/map. And street maps. I love a good map.

If I'm going somewhere new, I look at a map first, and get an idea of what roads and towns are in the area. If I'll be going on a motorway, I usually have an idea of which junctions I'll need. I sometimes use the AA route planner on their website - you can set it to go non-motorway, or via a different town, and will give you the option of different routes, if available - some routes may be a bit longer mileage, but quicker time. There are probably other websites doing similar.

I usually set my satnav before setting off, because it talks to me, so I don't have to look at something other than the road, but if the roads are busy, I might take a different route and let the sat nav reset the route accordingly. (I usually let the traffic news cut in on the radio.)