M18 (Great Britain)

For other uses, see List of M18 roads.

M18
M18 highlighted in blue Shown with UK motorway network
Looking south near Rawcliffe
Route information
Part of E 13 and E 22
Maintained by National Highways
Length	26.5 mi (42.6 km)
Existed	1967–present
History	Opened: 1967 Completed: 1979
Major junctions
South-west end	Thurcroft
Major intersections	M1 A1(M) motorway M180 M62
North-east end	Rawcliffe
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Counties	South Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire
Primary destinations	Doncaster
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom E-roads Motorways A and B road zones
← M11 → M20

M18 northbound during the 2005–2006 roadworks

M18 in South Yorkshire

The M18 is a motorway in Yorkshire, England. It runs from the east of Rotherham to Goole and is approximately 26 miles (42 km) long. A section of the road forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E13.

Route

The M18 runs in a north-east–south-west direction from junction 32 of the M1 to junction 35 of the M62. It passes east of Rotherham, south-east of Doncaster and Armthorpe, and west of Thorne. It meets the A1(M) at junction 2 (A1(M) junction 35) — known as the Wadworth Interchange — and the M180 at junction 5. Access to Doncaster is provided from junctions 3 (A6182) and 4 (A630)

The middle half of the M18 is a two-lane dual carriageway, and carries relatively low volumes of traffic. However, the M1 to A1(M) section and M180 to M62 section are much busier, with three lanes in each direction, and there is a small three-lane section northbound between junctions 2 and 3. It passes over the Wadworth Viaduct at junction 2. To the north it then crosses the East Coast Main Line, and until its closure and the dismantling of the pit head gear, a large colliery could be seen to the south at Rossington.

History

• Junction 1 to junction 2 opened in 1967
• Junction 5 to junction 6 opened in 1972
• Junction 6 to junction 7 opened in 1975
• Junction 4 to junction 5 opened in 1977
• Junction 2 to junction 4 opened in 1979

The M18 was originally to be part of the M1, but it was decided to route the M1 towards Leeds instead of Doncaster, and the routing of what would have been the M1 east of Sheffield became the M18. To provide better access to Doncaster town centre and the new Great Yorkshire Way to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, the section of the M18 between junctions 2 and 3 northbound was upgraded to three lanes, between June 2014 and June 2015.

Junctions

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. The location sequence is a continuation of the M1 location sequence.

M18 motorway junctions
miles	km	Southbound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	Northbound exits (A carriageway)	Coordinates
156.8	252.4	The SOUTH, London, Nottingham Sheffield, Leeds M1	M1, J32	Start of motorway
158.5	255.1	Rotherham A631	J1	Rotherham A631
163.8	263.6	Newark, Leeds A1(M)	J2	The NORTH, The SOUTH A1(M)
165.9	267.1	Doncaster A6182	J3	Doncaster A6182 Doncaster Sheffield
171.8	276.5	Doncaster A630	J4	Doncaster A630
175.8	283.0	Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster Sheffield , Humberside M180 Doncaster North services	J5 Services	Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Doncaster Sheffield , Humberside M180 Doncaster North Services
177.8	286.2	Thorne A614	J6	Thorne A614
		Entering South Yorkshire		Entering East Riding of Yorkshire
182.7	294.0	Start of motorway	J7	The NORTH (A1(M)), Leeds Hull, York, Goole M62
Notes Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown. Coordinate data from ACME Mapper.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

External links

Geographic data related to M18 motorway at OpenStreetMap

• CBRD Motorway Database – M18
• Hotels and restaurants along the motorway.
• Motorway Archive – M1 to A1(M)
• Motorway Archive – A1(M) to M62