1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144 
Motorway Musings
Page 82
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
A YEAR ago last week Britain's first
" full-sized" motorway came into operation, thereby instituting a valuable time-saving link between the commercial and industrial capitals of this country. Despite the various waves of alarm and despondency, which preceded and followed in the wake of the opening of this highly creditable example of modern civil engineering, M1 and its attendant branch roads have proved a resounding success—and a satisfying example of how speed can be combined with safety.
It is still far too early to give a positive guide as to what economies goods-vehicle operators can expect to achieve by the use of this motorway: indeed, the full weight of such economies will not become really apparent until the existing motorway is extended northwards, according to current planning. It is safe to state, however, that few operators can honestly say that the use of the motorway by their drivers has cost them money, except for those unfortunate enough to have had to pay to have disabled vehicles towed off the original and misleadingly termed " hard " shoulders.
Certainly, coach operators have not been slow to take full advantage of the time-saving potentials of the motorway and several of the regular services at present in operation must be causing the railways some heartburn.
After the initial wave of Stirling Moss tactics, the pace of traffic on the motorway appears to have settled down to a reasonable level, few cars even observing constant speeds of more than 70 m.p.h. Admittedly, regular services between Birmingham, Coventry and London are being operated with coaches which cruise at 75 m.p.h., but this speed is exceptional and the vehicles have been specifically designed for this type of operation, and are considerably safer at this speed than many of the private cars using the same road.
Goods vehicles are rarely seen to exceed 50 m.p.h., with even lower cruising speeds in the case of heavy vehicles. Such relatively low speeds. however, can still effect a saving in overall journey time—which is valuable if the saving can be used to full effect.
Because of more constant traffic conditions and less steep gradients,. the motorway undoubtedly reduces wear and tear on both drivers and vehicles. Had this summer been hot and dry, however, serious tyre troubles could well have arisen, mainly because of overloading. A 16-ton eight-wheeler carrying over 20 tons on its standard tyre equipment is a potential menace at 40 m.p.h. on 65 miles of hot road, and all classes of operators would do well to bear this in mind.
Rebuilding of the hard shoulders is already well in hand; this time they are' being made really hard, whilst the width is being increased from the original meagre 8 ft. to a more reasonable 10 ft. The café problem is not truly satisfactory yet, but drivers appear to have got into the habit of making their refreshment stops at cafés to the north and south of the motorway.
It has been particularly encouraging to see the improvements that have been made to the roads leading into the motorway proper, from. both the Barnet and Coventry ends. Dual carriageway now stretches from South Mimms to the Birmingham boundary, with only two sets of traffic lights in full-time operation over the course of this stretch.
So far as the vehicles themselves are concerned, there are distinct signs that British manufacturers are bearing the motorways well in mind when formulating new designs, although for the time being most operators will have to be .content with vehicles built before the promise of a motorway system started to become fact. At least most of these existing vehicles have been equipped with sensibly sized rear-view mirrors and distinct flashing direction indicators, although there is much to be said for making the use of such equipment compulsory on all goods and passenger vehicles.
A sting in the tail: some heavies can still be seen on the motorway with inadequate or faulty rear lights.