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Paper Services
MSO Home - Unbuilt Services - Paper Services
There are lots of motorway services where construction was started but never completed, however there are quite a few which only exist in the form of government documentation. These are the ones which were planned but never materialised, not even in the form of an abandoned field. Many of these services weren't built because the road they were supposed to be off wasn't built, whereas some were just too unpopular to be looked at in detail.
London
Nowhere in the country has more unbuilt motorways than London, and so it makes sense that nowhere in the country has more unbuilt service stations than London. The plans for London's motorways have been catalogued in great detail over at CBRD
, but to give you a quick overview basically there were once plans for London to have four motorway ring roads, but not one of them was completed to its full length.
Havering-atte-Bower, M12
Of course, it's no good building four ring roads if you're not going to connect them to anything. The M12 would have come from the east at Essex and then merged with the M11 at Woodford. The M11 itself would have been extended in to the very centre of London.
The plans for the M12 were just that, plans, but the preferred route included plans for a service station on the road at Havering-atte-Bower. An exact location for the services was never defined, but it was going to be ½mile north of the village and the site was chosen because it was 15 miles from the centre of London and sat comfortably between the existing junctions.
It was suggested that the services would have to be well landscaped so as not to have an adverse impact on the village, which would otherwise have not been directly affected by the new motorway.
More information on the M12 can be found at Pathetic Motorways and an approximate location of the services can be found on this map.
Merstham, M23
The M23 was supposed to head further into London, which is why today it starts at a very messy J7. The consultant's report for the road makes it clear that you can't plan service stations in much detail until you are sure exactly what roads are being built where, however it does make two recommendations:
The first is for a service station between Rockshaw Road and a housing estate in Merstham, which appears to be only a matter of yards before the M23/M25 interchange. Presumably, this would require modifying the junction so that the services could cater for two roads at once.
It also suggests "a more pleasant site" in the valley between Merstham and Hooley. This could either be part of M23 J7, or on the road immediately north of this junction.
It's thought, although not mentioned in the report, that a third service area was considered east of Chipstead. These three sites are all in the same area because it's 15 miles from the M23's only other service area at Pease Pottage, and north of here the M23 would have been entirely urban with no room for a service area.
The three suspected locations for the services have been marked on this map.
Chevening, M25
M25 junction 5 is a mess today, because the M25 was originally planned to run from west-to-east with the A21 heading from north-to-south and a roundabout connecting the two, with both roads getting a flyover.
The interchange would have included a service station in the south-eastern quadrant, located on open land north of Chipstead (a different Chipstead to the one mentioned above). The services may well have backed on to a nearby lake, and they would have included public access to Chipstead Road in a similar fashion to that of South Mimms, another service area on the M25 located off exactly the same design of junction.
When the plans for London's Ringways were shrunk yet again it was decided that the M25 should head north from here, meaning that the planned junction was no longer appropriate. Instead, Clacket Lane services were built a few miles to the west. The planned site of the services has been marked on this map.
Iver, M25
Once the final design for the M25 had been chosen, four services were proposed. Three of them were built and are in use today, but a fourth one at Iver wasn't. It was going to be between junctions 15 and 16 and would have probably connected to Iver's railway station to create a park and ride site.
Ten years later, in 1998, similar plans were suggested but dropped after a public inquiry. It should be noted that this would have been inappropriately close to M25 J15, but on the other hand, this section of road currently has no services for quite a distance.
The planned site of the services has been marked on this map.
Chigwell, M11
Construction on Chigwell services was started, so instead it has its own page over here.
The Others
London isn't the only place with unbuilt services and motorways, they can be found all over the country.
Defford
During the 1970s, a motorway was planned to connect the M5/M50 junction at Strensham to either the M40/M42 junction at Solihull or the M6/M69 junction at Coventry, providing a shortcut across the Midlands and avoiding the need to widen the existing M5.
Traffic would have been directed away from the M5 just before Strensham services, so the road, which was never given an official number, needed its own service area. Three service stations were considered at Defford and nearby Pershore, at the bottom end of the road. No services were planned at the northern end of the road, but as neither the M69 nor the relevant section of the M42 have any services, some would have been needed.
More information on the Strensham-Solihull motorway, which is the closest it came to having a number, can be found at Pathetic Motorways and an approximate location of the services can be found on this map.
Stobb Cross
A service station was proposed just north of J60. Interestingly, information recently released shows that there was (is) planning permission for a service station near J56.
Redbourne
The services would have been built somewhere on the M1 between junctions 8 and 9, however the road here is a bit too busy for a service area.
Willand
This would have been on the M5 somewhere between J27 and J28, it was ruled out in favour of Cullompton.
Wootton Bassett
On the M4 somewhere between J16 and J17, ruled out in favour of Leigh Delamere and Membury.
West Kingsdown
On the M20 between J1 and J2, north of the Crowhurst Lane overbridge. It would have been 18 miles from the M20's existing services at Maidstone, and as we know exactly where it would have been it has been marked on this map.
Woolston and Winwick
At M6 J21 and J22 respectively. In 2000 the Manchester Ship Canal Company proposed a service station at M6 J21 and Extra proposed two at J22. All three plans were controversial, and the site at J21 was said to have very adverse traffic implications. 15 weeks in to the public inquiry (and two days before it was due to end), it was halted as Granada applied to extend nearby Lymm truckstop. Although Lymm isn't an official service area, it was considered good enough to kill off the three plans.
M4 & M40
Three separate services on the M4 were considered from 2002 to 2005, on the basis that only one of them would be approved. This was part of a wider network of missing services west of London, and the services being looked at here were one on the south side of M4 J8/9, one on the westbound side at Great Wood between J8/9 and J10, and one on both sides at Great Hazes between J8/9 and J10.
The M40 was also part of this inquiry, with a site being considered between J1a and J2 at Mount Hill Farm. This and the three sites on the M4 were rejected in favour of Beaconsfield (M40 J2) and Cobham (M25 J9-10), which also featured in the inquiry. The announcement was terrible news for the residents of Beaconsfield and Cobham who had been fighting the services for five years.
With thanks to Nicholas Lawley and Steven Jukes for the information and photos used on this page.