The M23 is a

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, running from the south of

Hooley Hooley is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Within its small grid of streets is the 13th-century church of Chipstead which has been, since time immemorial, its ecclesiastical parish. Hooley is connected via pat ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, where it splits from the A23, to

Pease Pottage Pease Pottage is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the southern edge of the Crawley built-up area, in the civil parish of Slaugham. The village has a motorway service station, named after the village ...

, south of

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what is effectively a spur north of junction 7 of the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

(junction 8 on the M23). From Hooley it runs for past Redhill,

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...

and Crawley. A spur runs from junction 9 to Gatwick Airport.

History

The motorway was constructed between 1972 and 1975, at the same time as the southern section of the M25 from

Godstone Godstone is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, east of Reigate at the junction of the A22 and A25 roads, near the M25 motorway and the North Downs. Godstone railway station is separated from it by agricultural land. Blindley H ...

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

(M25 junctions 6 to 8). The current northern terminus at junction 7 uses the original sliproads to meet the A23 and a flyover above the junction built for the onward northern continuation remains unused. M23, junction 9

The cancellation of the unbuilt northern section from the M25 in towards Central London has resulted in the A23 carrying the majority of traffic through South London to the motorway. This is largely a single carriageway route, with many level junctions, traffic lights and awkward interchanges. It travels largely through residential areas and is inadequate for the level of traffic it carries. A new junction (J10a) was opened in 1997, between J10 and J11, for access to the new

neighbourhood of

Maidenbower Maidenbower is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. Maidenbower is located in the south east corner of the town, bordering the M23 motorway. It is bordered by Pound Hill to the north and Furnace Green to ...

. It was financed as part of the development of Maidenbower by the construction consortium. It has only a northbound slip road, no southbound access.

Unbuilt sections

The M23 was planned to relieve congestion on the A23 through

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

, Purley and

Coulsdon Coulsdon (, traditionally pronounced ) is a town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, in the ceremonial county of Greater London since 1965. Prior to this it was part of the historic county of Surrey. History The loc ...

in south London and was originally intended to terminate in

Streatham Vale Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surre ...

at a junction with the controversial

London Ringways The London Ringways were a series of four ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council (GLC) to alleviate traffic con ...

Plan's Ringway 2 (the intended replacement of the South Circular Road (A205)). In an earlier version of the Ringways Plan it would have continued into central London where it would have met the Balham Loop spur from Ringway 1 (the London Motorway Box) at

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Saxon times. Th ...

. This was dropped in 1967 when the northern terminus was changed to Ringway 2. While a definite route had not been chosen at that time for the northern section, approval was met for the route south of the

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness Greatness is a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person or object in a particular place or area. Greatness can also be attributed to individuals who possess a natural ability to be better than al ...

boundary at Hooley. By 1972 the southern section of Ringway 2 had been dropped from the plan, with an alternative proposal that the M23 continue further into London to end on Ringway 1. This was immediately countered in the same year by the GLC, who announced they would not be building that Ringway, which meant that had the M23 continued north into inner London it would not have had the motorway required at its northern end to distribute traffic to the east and west. The M23 plan was gradually scaled back further to omit the section across Mitcham Common and end the motorway at an unsuitable location on Croydon Road (

A232 List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest r ...

) before the plan was postponed indefinitely. By the late 1970s, the area along the proposed line of the motorway had become affected by

blight Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral orga ...

, and while the proposals were finally dropped in the mid-1980s, much of the land reserved for the route was not released by the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

until the mid-1990s. The missing section of motorway and the missing six junctions north of Hooley were not constructed due to the refusal of the GLC to finance the project, having encountered large scale opposition to the construction of Ringways elsewhere in London. However, the scale of the four-tier junction between the M23 and the M25, one of only three

stack interchange A directional interchange, colloquially known as a stack interchange, is a type of grade-separated junction between two controlled-access highways that allows for free-flowing movement to and from all directions of traffic. These interchanges e ...

s in the UK, is indicative of the importance attached to the M23 at that time.

Smart motorway

Between July 2018 and July 2020 works took place to upgrade the M23 between J8 & J10 to an all-lane-running motorway. The upgrades took place mostly for more reliable journeys to

and increase the overall capacity of the route. The upgrades include an all-lane-running motorway, 12 new emergency areas, a new concrete central barrier replacing the current steel one, new roadside sound barriers, variable speed limits and two new emergency access slip roads. Changes were also implemented on the M23 J9 Spur, with the hard shoulder west bound converted to a running lane, and static 50 mph speed limits implemented in both directions. In January 2020 all Smart Motorway Projects were put under review due to concerns about their safety, during this period no new Smart Motorways could open. The review was published on 12 March 2020 and required no immediate amendments to the design or construction, however new technology to detect static vehicles is required to be fitted within 3 years, and a review on spacing of Emergency Refuge Areas was to be carried out. The fourth lane was opened to traffic on 2 April 2020, however with a temporary 50 mph speed limit. Works were scheduled to take place until July 2020 to finish installation of equipment, followed by testing and commissioning, before the project is completed and can run at the National Speed Limit.

Junctions

Data from

driver location signs Driver location signs are signs placed every along each side of English motorways, and some other major English roads, to provide information that will allow motorists to know their precise location. , roads in England, but not Scotland, Wale ...

are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres (yards) and start and end points are available, both are cited.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
{, style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em; color:black; font-size:95%;" class="wikitable" , - style="background:#0080d0; text-align:center; color:white; font-size:120%;" , colspan="5" , M23 motorway junctions , - !scope=col, miles !scope=col, km !scope=col abbr="Northbound", Northbound exits (B carriageway) !scope=col, Junction !scope=col abbr="Southbound", Southbound exits (A carriageway) , - align="center" , 17.0, , 27.4 , rowspan=2 , ''Road continues as A23 to Croydon''
Croydon A23 , rowspan=2 , J7 , rowspan=2 , Crawley, Gatwick A23
''Non-motorway traffic''
''Start of motorway'' , - align="center" , 17.5, , 28.2 , - align="center" , 19.0, , 30.5 , rowspan=2 ,

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Dartford Crossing
( M4, M1, M20, M11), M25 , rowspan=2 , J8 , rowspan=2 , Heathrow Airport (M4), Stansted Airport (M11) Maidstone (M20) (M3, M40, M26) M25 , - align="center" , 19.3, , 31.0 , - align="center" , 26.5, , 42.7 , rowspan=2 , Gatwick Airport, Redhill A23 , rowspan=2 , J9 , rowspan=2 , Gatwick Airport, Redhill A23 , - align="center" , 26.8, , 43.1 , - align="center" , 28.5, , 45.8 , rowspan=2 , Crawley A2011
East Grinstead

A264 A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes ...

, rowspan=2 , J10 , rowspan=2 , Crawley A2011
East Grinstead A264 , - align="center" , 28.6, , 46.1 , - align="center" , 30.3, , 48.8 , rowspan=2 No exit , rowspan=2 , J10a , rowspan=2 , Crawley B2036 , - align="center" , 30.6, , 49.2 , - align="center" , 33.1, , 53.3 , rowspan=2 , ''Start of motorway''
Crawley A23
''Non-motorway traffic''
'' Pease Pottage services'' , rowspan=2 , J11
''Services'' , rowspan=2 , Brighton, Crawley A23
Horsham A264
'' Pease Pottage services''
''Road continues as A23 to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

'' , - align="center" , 33.4, , 53.8 , - , colspan=5, Notes *Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from

/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres (yards) and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown. , -

In popular culture

The rivalry between Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace football clubs is often referred to as the M23 Derby.

References

External links

www.cbrd.co.uk
*
Motorway Database – M23
*
History of the aborted M23 plan
{{DEFAULTSORT:2-0023 Motorways in England Roads in Surrey Roads in West Sussex Transport in Crawley