M31 motorway

M31 motorway
Route information
Length:	22.0 mi (35.4 km)
Existed:	1973 – present
History:	Completed in 1975 as A329(M)
Major junctions
From:	M25 motorway
	M3 motorway M4 motorway
To:	M4
Location
Primary destinations:	Bracknell Wokingham Reading
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The M31 was planned as a Reading to M3 motorway which was dubbed the 'M3 – M4 link motorway'. It would have provided a direct high-speed route between the two motorways. The motorway was planned at the same time as the largely unrealised London Ringways scheme and an additional section was planned that would have taken the M31 south and east from the M3 to connect to the scheme's Ringway 4 (now the M25) providing a shorter route for traffic travelling between the west and Surrey and Kent.

Only part of the planned route was built; it bears the designations A329(M) and A3290. Had the motorway been constructed it would have provided an alternative to the south-west section of the M25, reducing the motorway journey between Reading and Byfleet by approximately 10 miles (16 km) and alleviating traffic on what is the M25's busiest section.^[1][2]

References

1. RAC foundation
2. Highways Agency Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

• Pathetic Motorways
  • M31
  • M31 route map
  • Map of planned northern section of M31/A329(M)
• CBRD – A329(M)

Coordinates: 51°24′58″N 0°48′15″W / 51.41602°N 0.80423°W