M69 motorway


The M69 is a 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.

History

The motorway, also known at the time as the 'Coventry – Leicester Motorway' was completed in 1977 following a public inquiry in 1972. 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. 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.

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