M40 motorway

The M40 motorway runs for about 143 kilometres between London, Oxford and Birmingham. It is a dual three-lane road for most of its length, with short sections of dual four lanes and two-lane stretches near junctions. Active Traffic Management operates on the north-westbound section between junction 16 and the M42. The motorway was built in stages from 1967 to 1974 between London and Oxford. The extension to Birmingham began in the late 1980s after a public inquiry altered the route to avoid Otmoor, where protestors sold small squares of a field renamed ‘Alice’s field’. Construction started at Warwick in 1987 and the full route opened in 1991, with widening and service area additions following in later years. Visitors driving the M40 pass through rolling countryside and serve towns like High Wycombe, Beaconsfield and Banbury. Four service areas provide stops at Beaconsfield, Oxford, Cherwell Valley and Warwick, each with fuel, food and facilities. The motorway’s junctions link to major roads such as the A355, A40 and A41, guiding traffic smoothly between the three cities.