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I was quite surprised to travel from Bedford to the north on the M1 last Friday evening and encounter no appreciable traffic. Has making it 4-lane (and possibly also it being August) made it a better bet than the A1?
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You were lucky, Bedford is north of the roadworks. Probably all jammed up behind you
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is the leics/ nottingham bit been finished yet ?
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I agree with Zero; you were lucky.
We came through M25 to J15A after 23:00 on Saturday. Very congested in several bits of the Luton > MK widening including two sections of one lane only.
Saw more crap/dangerous driving in that 25mins than in the whole of the previous fortnight in France/Germany.
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We be driving again to London in the near future from up North using the M1.
When are these roadworks widenin ever finished on the M1?
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It's an endless job Dutchie.
They've worked north from the M25 to Luton and now Luton to MK. Surely they'll then do MK > Northampton > Catthorpe (J19/M6). Probably no need to widen between there and the Leics/Derby/Notts section finished a couple of years ago. Might however be case for going north from there towards Sheffield.
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>> It's an endless job Dutchie.
It will continue to be so until we get zero rate of population growth and every Tom Dick and Harry can't afford cars.
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>> is the leics/ nottingham bit been finished yet ?
That's been finished for about 2 years. The M6 bridge at Catthorpe is all done too. The stretch at Luton is now largely complete, there is only a SPECS-enforced 50mph limit from j12 to j11 southbound and j11 to j13 northbound - the remaining main area of work is around Toddington services and the nearby junction. As long as there are no accidents I can be reasonably confident of a clear run back and forth from London to the Midlands at most times of day - including the morning rush hour! (EDIT: I certainly wouldn't bother planning an alternative route just to avoid Luton Dutchie, I happily go through there at least twice a week)
On a Friday evening I would expect northbound delays on the M1 past East Midlands airport (j23a to j25) and again near the M18 (j31), but the A1 being largely 2-lane dual carriageway up to Wetherby suffers more from patches of slow traffic than the 3 or 4 lane M1.
Staying vaguely near topic, the M25 between the M1 and A1(M) is finished now, what a relief that is too. Traffic now flows freely in both directions which, importantly, means no more tailbacks extending to (and clogging up) the other two motorways.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Tue 4 Sep 12 at 20:34
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I could drop the car at Milton Keynes station at 7am. Potentially £40 well spent with the Brent Cross flooding. Or Huntingdon or Stevenage. Or Luton.
I accept the A1 can be a bit slower, but in recent years it has been less inclined to be solid than the M1. It's a sort of secret route - since they took away the roundabouts. (I cannot remember, did they sort out the Bedford Road junction, the A421?)
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The Bedford Road A421, does not really exist any more, its all virtual "M"421 from M1 to A1 black cat.
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>> The Bedford Road A421, does not really exist any more, its all virtual "M"421 from
>> M1 to A1 black cat.
It's dual carriageway all the way from M1 J13 to the black cat roundabout at the A1, where they now seem to be acknowledging they got it wrong.
Unless of course it rains: www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/News/Metal-theft-flood-misery-31082012.htm
They put a cutting in the new road under an existing road and relied on pumps to drain it. The problem is the new road's the lowest ground and there's nowhere to pump the water.
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Do you mean leave the car @ MKC to be picked up later?
If so you can avoid the southern M1 altogether by using the A5 between Portway rounabout and take your pick from Junctions 15A (A43 from Towcester), 16 (A45 from Weedon), 18 or 20 (A426E from gibbet junction) for the M1, or (A426 W from Gibbet junction) J1 on the M6. Stony Stratford roundabout and Towcester can be a bit slow though.
If you're parking at MK station there's not much left that's free but the commuter car park off Grafton Gate opposite the Santander building is much cheaper than the official station one. No right turn though, you need to double back at Midsummer Boulevard if approaching from Portway end of Grafton Gate.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 5 Sep 12 at 15:51
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M1 or A1? - Zero
