M26 motorway

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M26 motorway
Length	9.9 miles 15.9 km
Direction	West - East
Start	Chevening
Primary destinations	Sevenoaks
End	Wrotham Heath
Construction dates	1980 - entire motorway
Motorways joined	M25 motorway M20 motorway

Looking east at the junction with the M25. The A21 is crossing on the bridge in the foreground.

The M26 is a motorway in Kent, England. It is a short link between Junction 5 of the M25 at Sevenoaks and the M20 near Wrotham.

1 Route
2 History
3 Future Options
4 Junctions
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Route

The road starts at its junction with the M20 at Junction 3 of that motorway. The M26 has its own junction, numbered 2a to fit in with the M20's junction before heading west. 8 miles later it merges in with the M25 at Junction 5 - there is no access off the motorway and all traffic must join the clockwise M25. Traffic joining the M26 at Junction 2a must therefore remain on motorway for 18 miles^[1] until Junction 6 of the M25 - the longest distance between motorway exits in Britain.

[edit] History

The M26 was opened in 1980, but was originally planned to be a section of the M25, as part of Ringway 4. Before opening though, plans for the London Orbital required the M25 to be routed towards Dartford at J5 and the section from here to the M20 became the M26^[2]. Until 1986 the M25 simply became the M26 at Junction 5, as the M25 between Junction 5 and Junction 3 was not opened until this year.

[edit] Future Options

Kent County Council has been in talks with the Highways Agency over a possible new junction with the A225, allowing direct access to Sevenoaks - or access to the A21 at the M25 junction^[3].

[edit] Junctions

M26 Motorway
Westbound exits	Junction	Eastbound exits
Road continues as M25* around London*	M25 J5	Start of Motorway
Wrotham, Borough Green A20 Sevenoaks (A25)	J2a	Borough Green A20 Gravesend, Wrotham (A227)
Start of Motorway	M20 J3	Road continues as M20* towards Maidstone*

[edit] See also

List of motorways in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

^ CBRD Motorway Database - M26
^ The Motorway Archive - M26
^ Kent County Council Local Transport Plan - See 8.37 Improvement

[edit] External links

	Motorways in the United Kingdom
Great Britain: M1 • M2 • M3 • M4 • M5 • M6 • M6 Toll • M8 • M9 • M10 • M11 • M18 • M20 • M23 • M25 • M26 • M27 • M32 • M40 • M42 • M45 • M48 • M49 • M50 • M53 • M54 • M55 • M56 • M57 • M58 • M60 • M61 • M62 • M65 • M66 • M67 • M69 • M73 • M74 • M77 • M80 • M90 • M180 • M181 • M271 • M275 • M602 • M606 • M621 • M876 • M898
A1(M) • A3(M) • A38(M) • A48(M) • A57(M) • A58(M) A64(M) • A66(M) • A74(M) • A167(M) • A194(M) • A308(M) • A329(M) • A404(M) • A601(M) • A627(M) • A823(M)

	Northern Ireland: M1 • M2 • M3 • M5 • M12 • M22 • A8(M)	edit

Past: M41 • M63 • A18(M) • A40(M) • A41(M) • A102(M) • A6144(M) Unbuilt: M12 • M15 • M64 Future: M4 Toll