Favourite motorway?

[Richard Head]

What about electrodes on the genitals. Mind you there are some on here who would enjoy that

[mr brightside]

What's going on with my precious M62? It's like a car park with all the stupid roadworks going on. Average speed cameras, wombles out in force. Saddleworth Moor was ferociously windy this afternoon though, wind and driving heavy rain.

[mr brightside]

Well...set off to Manchester at 11.15 this morning, got stuck in a terrible jam on the old '62, worst i've ever seen. Was stationary for 1.5hrs at one point, car engine was cold when the jam started crawling again. Reached the scene at J22 at 2.30pm, some 3 and a quarter hours after pulling on in Leeds, checked the map- tailbacks were over 15miles long! Under the flyover at J22 was post-apocalyptic, smashed and pranged things everywhere. I still like it better than the M6 though.

[noel]

Sorry to hear of your motorway malaise Mr B. But on the up-side, thank you for bringing this thread to my attention.

M606 it's (a) very short and (b) takes me home.

It also is like many other songs in that it can be shoehorned into the old classic song to make "get your kicks on the M606". Not quite as tuneful as John Shuttleworth's classic A1111: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCThLwnI42s

[Travs]

As much as I love the section of M6 through the Howgills, the rest of it is utterly awful in general, and it's not just Birmingham.... the Cheshire section, Stoke, Coventry, it's a road of misery until you get north of Preston...

I'll put in an honourable mention for the M54 as it's usually reasonably quiet and fast moving, and for me it's the gateway to the Shropshire fells and also mid/north Wales.... M50 is also a great shout.

A5 from the Welsh border onwards is magical for me, despite the section to Betws-y-Coed which goes on forever...!

[TurboTom]

Well...set off to Manchester at 11.15 this morning, got stuck in a terrible jam on the old '62, worst i've ever seen. Was stationary for 1.5hrs at one point, car engine was cold when the jam started crawling again. Reached the scene at J22 at 2.30pm, some 3 and a quarter hours after pulling on in Leeds, checked the map- tailbacks were over 15miles long! Under the flyover at J22 was post-apocalyptic, smashed and pranged things everywhere. I still like it better than the M6 though.

Were you at Beamsley Beacon last week mate?

[PeteS]

As much as I love the section of M6 through the Howgills, the rest of it is utterly awful in general, and it's not just Birmingham.... the Cheshire section, Stoke, Coventry, it's a road of misery until you get north of Preston...

I'll put in an honourable mention for the M54 as it's usually reasonably quiet and fast moving, and for me it's the gateway to the Shropshire fells and also mid/north Wales.... M50 is also a great shout.

Ditto!

M5 for me is the gateway to everywhere else and also means the Malverns are only 30 minutes away. Thankfully reasonably free flowing now they've nearly finished the road works in North Worcs.

Least favourite has to be the M6 toll. Not because it is particularly congested or anything. It is just a fabulous white elephant of a road, it destroyed mile after mile of lovely countryside, has never made a penny in profit and does not alleviate any of the traffic on the M6 that it was meant to do.

[wheezing donkey]

Least favourite has to be the M6 toll. Not because it is particularly congested or anything. It is just a fabulous white elephant of a road, it destroyed mile after mile of lovely countryside, has never made a penny in profit and does not alleviate any of the traffic on the M6 that it was meant to do.

Would have to seriously disagree Pete. I have a brother down in Christchurch and my wife has a sister in Wiltshire. The M6 Toll saves us lots of woe getting around the M6 snarl-up through Birmingham .... it's well worth whatever it costs us to use it.
The snarl-ups through Birmingham continue because there are too many tight-wads who won't pay the toll - good riddance to them, it leaves the M6Toll as a nice route for those who are prepared to pay.

But having said all that, I hate all motorways they just encourage the feckless to drive at a faster speed than they are capable of controlling a vehicle at. On my 30 mile each-way commute I had favourite back roads that were far more pleasant than any M-way blast.

[Mike T]

Would have to seriously disagree Pete. I have a brother down in Christchurch and my wife has a sister in Wiltshire. The M6 Toll saves us lots of woe getting around the M6 snarl-up through Birmingham .... it's well worth whatever it costs us to use it.
The snarl-ups through Birmingham continue because there are too many tight-wads who won't pay the toll - good riddance to them, it leaves the M6Toll as a nice route for those who are prepared to pay.

But having said all that, I hate all motorways they just encourage the feckless to drive at a faster speed than they are capable of controlling a vehicle at. On my 30 mile each-way commute I had favourite back roads that were far more pleasant than any M-way blast.

Agreed - M6 toll is excellent - always used it when I lived in Suffolk and was visiting the Lakes - even the toll services was acceptable. The alternative was to waste hours stuck in traffic in Birmingham just to save a few pounds. No thanks.

[Travs]

I understand what PeteS is saying with regards to the countryside, but as someone who lives at the southern end of the M6 Toll and therefore has to negotiate the Birmingham/West Mids conurbation on every trip to the lakes or north Wales, it is a godsend.

Having spent some time in Bangkok, a controversial plan i'd like to see here, is to build a duplicate M6 motorway which runs in exactly the same line but 30ft above. Toll on the top level, and standard motorway below. Do the same for the M1, M25, M60, etc, ad give people the choice whether to pay a toll or not. Forget the HS2 which really will be a white elepant and definitely not needed. But for the vast majority of the population who use the motorways, it would give some choice.