M69 motorway

The M69 is a 15.7-mile (25.3 km) dual three lane dual carriageway motorway in Leicestershire and Warwickshire, England. It runs between junction 21 of the M1 near Leicester and junction 2 of the M6 near Coventry. It opened in 1977.

M69
Route information
Maintained by Highways England
Length	15.7 mi (25.3 km)
Existed	1976–present
History	Constructed 1976–77
Major junctions
North end	Leicester
	M6 motorway / M1 motorway
South end	Coventry
Location
Primary destinations	Nuneaton, Hinckley
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones ← M67 → M73

Heading east along the road

History

The motorway, also known at the time as the 'Coventry – Leicester Motorway'[1] was completed in 1977 following a public inquiry in 1972.[2] It took traffic from the A46, which was subsequently downgraded.

Route

Starting at the northeastern suburbs of Coventry at junction 2 of the M6, the motorway crosses the Coventry Canal and then continues northeast past Bulkington and west of Wolvey before turning more easterly to run south of Hinckley (Junction 2, known locally as 'Reacharound Island' because of the limited slip roads). It then crosses the Birmingham to Peterborough railway line terminating in the vicinity of suburban Enderby and Braunstone to the south west of Leicester Junction 3, where it meets the M1 with continuation along the A5460/A563 towards Leicester.

The motorway has no services given that this function is fulfilled at present by Leicester Forest East services and Corley services in close proximity to the start and end points of this relatively short motorway.

Proposed developments

M1/M69 Junction

There is an aspiration to construct a new slip road and road bridge for traffic travelling southbound on the M1 south to join the M69.[3]

In popular culture

Since the completion of the M69 motorway linking Coventry and Leicester, the motorway's number has given its name to the derby between the two football clubs playing in each city – Coventry City and Leicester City. These two clubs are rivals in the M69 derby.

Junctions

M69 motorway junctions
Southwestbound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	Northeastbound exits (A carriageway)	Coordinates[4]
Road continues to Coventry (South) and Leamington Spa via A46'	M6, J2	Coventry (North), Birmingham, The South, Rugby, Kettering M6(A14) Coventry (Central) A4600 Ansty B4065 Non-motorway traffic	52.43724°N 1.42341°W
Birmingham M6 Coventry (Central) A4600 UK CITY OF CULTURE 2021 Ansty B4065		Start of motorway
Nuneaton A5 Hinckley B4109	J1	Nuneaton A5 Hinckley B4109	52.51516°N 1.36123°W
Hinckley B4669	J2	No access (on-ramp only)	52.54017°N 1.31698°W
Start of motorway	J3 Terminus	Cntl Leicester (S)'Freemens|Liberty Circus' Leicester SW, Fosse Park A5460 City Centre (West End), Highcross) Braunstone, Thorpe Astley[5] A563/N Cntl Leicester(SE,E) Southfields:St-George Leicester S, SE, Whetstone Wigston, Oadby A563/E Narborough-Enderby (B4114) Leicester NW, N, NE, Newark M1(A46) The North - Nottingham M1/N The South - Northampton (M1/S)	52.6011°N 1.19604°W

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

References

1. "Motorways Programme HC Deb 4 May 1971 vol 816 cc332-5W". Hansard. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
2. The Motorway Archive – M69 Archived 16 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine
3. "M1/M69 Public Consultation Information – The new solution". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
4. Junction coordinates from OpenStreetMap
5. Thorpe Astley, New Lubbesthorpe Garden Suburb

External links

• The Motorway Archive – M69