Everything about M23 Motorway totally explained
The
M23 motorway is a
motorway in
England. The
motorway runs from south of
Horley in
Surrey, where it splits from the
A23, to
Pease Pottage, south of
Crawley in
West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts at junction 7 on what is effectively a two-mile long spur north from junction 7 of the
M25 motorway (junction 8 on the M23). From Hooley it runs 17
miles past
Redhill,
Gatwick Airport and Crawley. A spur runs from junction 9 to Gatwick Airport.
The motorway was constructed between
1972 and
1975, at the same time as the southern section of the M25 from
Godstone to
Reigate (M25 junctions 6 to 8). It was originally intended to head north into south
London and the scale of the three-tier junction between the two motorways is indicative of the importance of the M23 before the northern section was cancelled. The current northern terminus at junction 7 uses the original sliproads to meet the A23 and a flyover above the junction built for the onward northern continuation remains unused.
History
The M23 was planned as a means of relieving congestion on the A23 through
Streatham,
Thornton Heath,
Purley and
Coulsdon in south London and was originally intended to terminate in
Streatham Vale at a junction with the
London Ringways Plan's
Ringway 2 (the intended replacement of the
South Circular Road (A205)). The missing section of motorway and the missing six junctions north of Hooley were not constructed due to difficulties in finding a politically acceptable route through
Wallington,
Beddington and
Mitcham to Streatham. Large scale residential demolitions would have been required to make the route through these areas and local opposition to the motorway was strong.
» An early version of the Ringways Plan, would have seen the motorway continue to
Tooting where it would have met the
Balham Loop spur from
Ringway 1 (the London Motorway Box). This was dropped in
1967 when the northern terminus was changed to Ringway 2.
The Ringways plan was hugely controversial in itself, especially in south London where the construction of the planned routes would have caused enormous destruction of residential neighbourhoods. By
1972 the southern section of Ringway 2 had been dropped from the plan which meant that had the M23 continued north into inner London it wouldn't have had the motorway it required at its northern end to distribute traffic to the east and west. The M23 plan was gradually scaled back further to omit the section across
Mitcham Common and end the motorway unsuitably on Croydon Road (
A232) before the plan was postponed indefinitely. The proposals were finally dropped in the mid-1980s but much of the land reserved for the route wasn't released by the
Department for Transport until the mid-1990s.
A new junction (J10A) was opened in 1997, between J10 and J11, to give access to the new
Crawley neighbourhood of
Maidenbower. It was financed as part of the development of Maidenbower by the construction consortium. It only gives off access southbound and on access northbound.
Brighton and Hove is currently the largest population centre, not having Motorways to connect it to other centres.
Junctions
M23 Motorway
| Northbound exits |
Junction |
Southbound exits |
| A23: Croydon, London |
J7 |
Start of Motorway |
M25: Heathrow Airport,
Sutton, Watford, Dartford,
Maidstone, Westerham |
J8 |
M25: Dartford, Maidstone,
Westerham, Heathrow,
Watford, Reigate |
| A23: Gatwick Airport |
J9 |
A23: Gatwick Airport, Redhill |
A2220: Crawley
A264: East Grinstead |
J10 |
A2220: Crawley
A264: East Grinstead |
| No exit |
J10a |
B2036: Crawley
No access |
| Start of Motorway |
J11
Pease Pottage Services |
A23:Brighton
A264: Horsham
Brighton Road: Crawley
Brighton Road: Pease Pottage |
Further Information
Get more info on 'M23 Motorway'.
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