The M18 runs in a north-east–south-west direction from junction 32 of the M1 motorway to junction 35 of the M62 motorway. It passes east of Rotherham, south-east of Doncaster and Armthorpe, and west of Thorne. It meets the A1(M) at junction 2 (A1(M) junction 35) — known as the Wadworth Interchange — and the M180 motorway at junction 5. Access to Doncaster is provided from junctions 3 (A6182) and 4 (A630)
The middle half of the M18 is a two-lane dual carriageway, and carries relatively low volumes of traffic. However, the M1 to A1(M) section and M180 to M62 section are much busier, with three lanes in each direction, and there is a small three-lane section northbound between junctions 2 and 3. It passes over the Wadworth Viaduct at junction 2. To the north it then crosses the East Coast Main Line, and until its closure and the dismantling of the pit head gear, a large colliery could be seen to the south at Rossington.
History
Junction 1 to junction 2 opened in 1967
Junction 5 to junction 6 opened in 1972
Junction 6 to junction 7 opened in 1975
Junction 4 to junction 5 opened in 1977
Junction 2 to junction 4 opened in 1979
The M18 was originally to be part of the M1, but it was decided to route the M1 towards Leeds instead of Doncaster, and the routing of what would have been the M1 east of Sheffield became the M18.[1]
To provide better access to Doncaster town centre and the new Great Yorkshire Way to Doncaster Sheffield Airport, the section of the M18 between junctions 2 and 3 northbound was upgraded to three lanes, between June 2014 and June 2015.[2]
Junctions
This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table. Please consult this guideline for information on how to create one. Please improve this article if you can.(December 2021)
Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.[3] The location sequence is a continuation of the M1 location sequence.
Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown.
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