South to North and back in the UK - A1 or M1???

PaulB2005

Got to do a journey to the In-Laws next month 95% of the journey is Motorway.

I have a choice of the A1 or the M1 for the first leg from London to Leeds. Which is better? I like the A1 because it's more picturesque and hence less boring = less likely to start to fall asleep. However i hate the "Juggernaut Duals" that occur frequently (i.e one lorry overtakes another lorry going up a hill. The second lorry is travelling at 0.25 mph faster than the other so it takes ages to actually pull in and holds back traffic for ages.) You don't get this on the M1 (3 or 4 lanes instead of 2 )but the M1 seems more prone to roadworks and congestion. I only do the journey once, maybe twice, a year and we can never decide which is better. Usually end up going A1 in the end....

Any other drivers got a preference?

peterc10 · Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:40 pm Post subject:

Depends when you are travelling. The M1 gets very clogged up morning and evenings during the week, especially around Watford, Luton, Milton Keynes the M6 turn off and Sheffield. On the other hand the A1 tends to be less clogged at those times.

Rest of the time probably M1, unless you are unlucky and there is a big hold up when you can be stuck for hours (at least with many bits of the a1 you can actually turn off and try an alternative)
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PaulB2005 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 1:49 am Post subject:

Cheers. Thats quite helpful. We leave early - well 5:30 - 6 am. Sounds like the A1 is better - as you say

peterc10 · Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:12 am Post subject:

PaulB2005 · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:06 pm Post subject:

Used M1 both ways. Much better and less stressful than the A1 even in snow.

alix776 · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:26 pm Post subject:

wrote
i hate the "Juggernaut Duals"

what mithical greek beats on the motorway it isn't our fault blame the government unfortunalty due he the way engine management systems work you have say on the speed limiter as much as possible to maintain momentum and keep the fuel ecomony steady as well as most of the delivery system moving to a J.I.T delivery system (some bright sparks idea) as well as maximising productivity and work within hours regulations as well as competing with cheeper foreign hauliers and ever decreasing haulage rates though sat nav sysytems can play apart in helping this.
incidently the trucks on the 2 lane sections of the A1 should only be doing 50mph
god that turned in to a rant back to the dark corner then Wink

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PaulB2005 · Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:44 pm Post subject:

alix776 - Sorry. It wasn't supposed to be an anti-trucker comment. It's just frustrating when the overtaking coincides with a long incline. Everything behind it gets slowed down for 2-3 minutes whilst they inch past each other. You state that the trucks should be doing 50 mph i can't confirm or deny this but it seems if one truck is doing 50 mph and it comes up behind another truck doing 49.5 mph then the 50 mph truck has to overtake! Even though the extra 0.5 mph won't actually give the driver any real noticeable time advantage. For the sake of one driver not loosing 0.5 mph in speed everything behind suffers.

I always thought the argument AGAINST overtaking is trucks can slipstream reducing the fuel consumption of the truck behind?

But then what do i know?

EvilTwin · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:11 am Post subject:

unfortunately its a questiopn of momentum that few car drivers can appreciate. You see in a car if you back off your speed, you can pick it up relatively easily, but in a truck, if you are fully laden, and you back off your speed, you'll take an age to get back up to the speed you were doing, so if someone is going slower, the temptation is great to overtake.

I'll admit on the A1 then its dual carriageway, it can be a pain getting stuck behind an HGV, but how much difference in your arrival time will it really make?

As for your route, the A1 is the way ahead, its always a nice run.
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PaulB2005 · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:51 pm Post subject:

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