Pathetic Motorways

May 12, 2016 7:20 PM

If people ever do think of a motorway, they think of miles upon miles of tarmac, of great long roads that go from one end of the country to another. This isn't always the case, which is where Pathetic Motorways comes in. Here we look at the shorter, more unusual motorways in a tongue-in-cheek manner; and also examine motorway history - in other words what is, what was, and what might have been all based around those blue lines on maps.
posted by MoonOrb (10 comments total)

As an American, I can say tha these "motorways" and the maps....terrify me. Why do the English make the roads, numbering, maps, ..all of it...so dang complex?
posted by shockingbluamp at 8:01 PM on May 12, 2016

the … English? Really?
posted by scruss at 8:13 PM on May 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

I think particularly pathetic roadways are ones which don't even connect to anything.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:30 PM on May 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

You wanna see pathetic? Try Christchurch, New Zealand with its adorable little Route 76 with a single dumbbell interchange or the Christchurch Northern Motorway that lasts a grand total of six miles.

They're so cute and innocent!

And also, every freeway in New England. I didn't realize the Irish heritage was 100% cloverleaf interchanges EVERY SINGLE TIME.
posted by Talez at 9:47 PM on May 12, 2016

This page reminds me of I-238 in California.
posted by radwolf76 at 10:44 PM on May 12, 2016

Most work-days I commute across the Severn along a stretch of the M48, which, while I can concede might be considered pathetic by some standards, is also generally pleasant to drive on, relatively uncrowded as British roads go, and sometimes, such as when crossing the Severn Bridge on a bright but misty morning, remarkably beautiful.
posted by misteraitch at 2:26 AM on May 13, 2016

The unusual elevated building at Charing Cross is on top of one of the unused spurs of the Glasgow Inner Ring Road. The plan was to have elevated motorway above Sauchiehall St, with a vibrant shopping plaza beneath — ha!

I think it's also this bit of road that the protagonist of Banks's Espedair Street ends up on after a consciousness-modified spree.
posted by scruss at 7:21 AM on May 13, 2016

I love it. Shame they didn't use what has to be my favourite dictionary definition: "Pathetic - Distressingly inadequate".

I'm not sure if it counts, but I've always been amused by Pattrick's Junction just outside Harwich.
posted by lucidium at 11:04 AM on May 13, 2016

For more British road-geekery, see Chris's British Road Directory, particularly its list of bad junctions
posted by Urtylug at 11:44 AM on May 13, 2016

Great link - I'm very aware of my local crap motorways (hello, teeth-jarringly badly tarmac-ed M90), but less so of the other ones.

If you've never had the terror of driving through Glasgow on the M8, it's worth clicking through the photo tour. Cars coming on and off on the wrong side is just... argh. I'm sure I'd get used to it if I had to drive it regularly, but for occasional users it's terrible.
posted by Vortisaur at 12:02 PM on May 13, 2016