M40 Motorway - History

History

The motorway between London and Oxford was constructed in stages between 1967 and 1974. The first section from the High Wycombe Bypass from Handycross to Stokenchurch (junctions 4–5) opened in June 1967 with a temporary junction (Junction 2*) opening in 1969, extending the route in a southerly direction to Holtspur just outside of Beaconsfield. The 'Beaconsfield bypass' to junction 2 was built in 1971 and the 'Gerrards Cross Bypass' to junction 1 was completed in 1973. The section northbound from junction 5 to junction 8 (Pitmore to Chilworth Farm at Great Milton just outside Oxford) was completed in 1974.

Shortly after this, plans were unveiled for a service station at Abbey Barns near Beaconsfield, but this was never built.

At the design stage, a service area was originally planned for High Wycombe, between junctions 3 and 4, and the road has the beginnings of slip roads on both carriageways at this point. The plans never reached fruition.

Although late in the 1960s, not long after the first stretch of the M40 opened, the Ministry of Transport announced the possibility of building a motorway to link London with Birmingham as an alternative to the M1-M6 route – as well as improving road links to the South Coast ports for The Midlands – it was not until 1983 that the decision to extend the M40 from Oxford to the south of Birmingham was made.

The preferred route from Oxford to Birmingham was altered to avoid Otmoor after a vigorous road protest which included selling over 3,000 small squares of a field to people all over the world. The field had been renamed 'Alice's field' as a reference to Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll who lived in the area at the time he wrote the book.

Construction of the dual three-lane motorway began at Warwick in October 1987, with work on the section around Banbury starting in February 1988, and finally the section north of Oxford in July 1989. The section between the M42 and Warwick opened in December 1989, and the remainder of the motorway in January 1991.

It was also planned that the M42 between junctions 3A to the M5 would be renumbered as part of the M40 but this change did not take place.

By the time of the motorway's full opening, the remaining parts of the original M40 had been widened to dual three motorway creating a dual three lane motorway from start to finish.

M40's first service station opened as Cherwell Valley services in 1994 on the site of temporary toilet areas which had been created when the motorway was constructed.

The M40 had been expected to be the last major motorway constructed in the UK, but during the final stages of construction the Conservative government announced a major new road building scheme (Roads for Prosperity); much of which was later cancelled after major road protests.

Beginning in 1997, the motorway was widened to dual four lane between junctions 1A and 3 (High Wycombe East) under a Private Finance Initiative. It was completed by a Carillion-John Laing joint venture in October 1998, less than the original plan which would have included widening the section between Junctions 3 and 4. Oxford services and Warwick Services opened in 1998.

Work to separate local and long distance traffic at junction 4 was completed in 2007. The work included a new dedicated left turn slip lane between the A404 Marlow Bypass and the Oxford-bound M40; additional lanes to the M40 slip roads entering the roundabout; an additional lane between the A404 Marlow Hill and the London-bound M40; and a five lane cross link to assist traffic movements between the M40 and the A404(S).

In 2009 the Highways Agency extended the Active Traffic Management (ATM) system that was previously introduced on the M42 motorway onto the northbound carriageway of the M40 from junction 16 through to the junction with the M42. Beaconsfield services (near the site of the original proposed service station almost 40 years earlier) opened in 2009.

In August 2010, work started on junction 9, upgrading the M40 southbound exit sliproad to three lanes, as well as similar widening on the connecting A34 and A41 junctions. This was the first part of the work at this busy junction. If there is funding, a second part will commence, upgrading the M40 northbound entrance as well as the A41 southbound entrance.