M26 motorway
M26 motorway in the UK | |||||||||||||||||||
Basic data | |||||||||||||||||||
Operator: | Highways Agency | ||||||||||||||||||
Overall length: | 15.9 km (9.9 mi ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Development condition: | four lanes | ||||||||||||||||||
Course of the road
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The M26 motorway ( English for 'Motorway M26') is only about 16 km long motorway in Kent , England , which connects the M25 with the M20 .
The origin of this short motorway lies in the planning of the London motorway rings (English London Ringways ) in the 1960s. This section was to become part of Ringway 4, the outermost ring. The changed plans after 1972, which led to the construction of today's Motorway M25 , comprised the east and north parts of Ringway 3 and west and south parts of Ringway 4. These had to be connected first. Since the new motorway ring was now to turn north at Sevenoaks , this section, opened in 1980, remained as the “stub” of the M25 and was given the number M26. Until the opening of the necessary section in February 1986, however, the M25 ended on this motorway.
The section between junction 2A of the M26 and junction 6 of the M25 is the longest section (18 miles) between two exits in the UK , as you cannot leave the motorway at Sevenoaks. This only applies in the west direction.