East London to Birmingham - best routes?

londonTiger

Just courious as to what is the most efficient route to get to Birmingham. from East-central London.

I've always gone through old street - islington - m1 out to the north. But in the m1 there is about a 10 mile stretch (or feels like 10 miles) of motorway lane expansion and there are three lanes scrunched up in the space of 2 lanes in the meantime with 50mph limits. It does take its toll on you a bit because you have to be on high alert all throughout cars beside you feel like they're just 3-4 ft away. I imagine if there are any traffic issues it would compound the problems a lot more.

Google maps seems to suggest going through old street - kings cross - baker street - westway - m40 to birmingham.

Never tried that route and it means going past central london for me where as the current route is the shortest route out of London - so that could +/- 40 mins in London traffic.

Any experiences?

Side note: When is the m1 lane expansion going to end? It's in almost terminal roadworks mode, never see any work being done at all.

RS2000.

I've done both M40 and M1, the time of day and part of Birmingham you're visiting may play a part in the decision.

dacouch

It depends on the time of day.

I would be inclined to do A12 then m11 then a14.

You would need to check for road works but this route would normally be quicker as you're upto decent speeds as soon as you're on the A12

phill99

Dacouch is right. M11, A14, M1. Misses out all of Central London.

dacouch

Driving across London to the base of the M1 would take a minimum of 35 minutes (More likely 45). You can cover a lot of distance at an uninterrupted 50mph on the a12 and then at 70mph once you hit the M11.

People are to reliant on sat navs rather than actually looking at a map for other routes.

Sat Navs are incredibly inaccurate on how long a trip will take across London.

Reminds me of this gem I saw today...

londonTiger

there's some 30 more miles in there, google maps suggests journey time is the same. I know sitting in traffic in London is aweful, but is driving for 30 minutes on the motorway instead any different if the total journey time is the same.

londonTiger

it can't hurt. I'll give it a try and if it saves 30mins at least |I'll use that journey.

Btw, I'm in east central, so getting to a12 would still require me to drive through london traffic. To get the a12 would take me 20 minutes, and in the same time I could be in Islington.

Hintza

These Brummy boys will eat you alive!

dacouch

londonTiger wrote: »

it can't hurt. I'll give it a try and if it saves 30mins at least |I'll use that journey.

Btw, I'm in east central, so getting to a12 would still require me to drive through london traffic. To get the a12 would take me 20 minutes, and in the same time I could be in Islington.

How long does it take you to get from your house to the base of the M1?

What time of day do you leave / come back?

gilbert_and_sullivan

M11, M25, M40, job done.

M1 replacement of central barrier with concrete block (still won't stop 44 ton lorry with driver asleep going through) will be yonks yet, they've just finished coning off jcts 15 through 16 to start on that bit, so now it's the whole length from 15 up to 19 thats narrow 50 (if you're lucky) and dangerous.

No doubt that section will be another misnamed managed motorway in due course, a 4 lane section on the cheap to cope with the next 6 million additions to the population you are all voting for,

dacouch

m40 Is definitely the way I go if I set off from West London or I'm heading to the North West, it's a much easier way of getting to Birmingham providing you don't get to wound up by the middle lane drivers club