M1 motorway the A5, the motorway takes a more northerly route through the East Midlands, via Leicester, Loughborough, Nottingham to Sheffield, where the M18 splits from the M1 at Junction 32 to head to Doncaster. Originally, the M1 was planned to end at Doncaster but it was decided to make what was going to be the "Leeds and Sheffield Spur" the primary route with the section to the A1(M) south of Doncaster given the separate motorway number M18. From Junction 32, the motorway passes Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Wakefield, reaching the original end of the motorway at (the original) Junction 44 to
M1 motorway first full-length motorway and opened in 1959. The early M1 had no speed limits, no central reservation or crash barriers, and no lighting. The first section of the motorway opened between Junction 5 (Watford) and Junction 18 (Crick/Rugby) on 1st November 1959 together with the motorway's two spurs, the M10 (from Junction 7 to south of St Albans originally connecting to the A1) and the M45 (from Junction 17 to the A45 and Coventry). Parts of the Hertfordshire section were built using steam rollers. The M1 was officially inaugurated from Slip End (close to Luton), this was celebrated by a