17/04/2024
Let's talk Motorway Marker Posts:
We've all seen them and probably never paid much notice to them, but this post could one day save you a lot of hassle should you ever break down on a motorway. It can also assist the emergency services to locate breakdowns, accidents or debris on the Motorways.
How to read marker posts and how to tell where you are:
There's two main types. Posts and Boards. Boards are much bigger. Firstly, it shows the Motorway you're currently on. Then either A or B (direction of travel, we'll come to that), finally a series of numbers.
So, for instance:
M1 - This is the motorway you're on
A or B - This is the carriageway you're on
123.4 - This is the distance from the start of the Motorway in Kilometres.
A is always driving AWAY from the start of the Motorway.
B is always driving TOWARDS the start of the Motorway.
The Motorway always starts at a major city.
For instance, M1 starts from London
M62 starts from Liverpool etc etc..
So, if you breakdown, and the Police, National Highways or breakdown company asks for your location, just relay the nearest marker post.
Let's take the M1 as an example:
You've broken down.. you're at
M1
B
164.6
So, you're on the M1, you're on the Bravo (B) carriageway, heading TOWARDS London, (Southbound), and you're exactly 164.6km from London/start of the Motorway. They now know exactly where you are.
Every 100 yards, there's a small Marker Post, these are simple plastic stakes.. these give a very precise location and increase or decrease by 0.1km each time depending on which carriageway you're on. They go UP on the A Carriageway, DOWN on the B Carriageway.
If they're BLUE, you're on a MOTORWAY
If they're GREEN, you're on a TRUNK ROAD (A38, A1, A14 etc)
If you look on the side of a post, you'll also see a telephone symbol and an arrow. This tells you the direction of the nearest emergency orange telephone, which will put you straight through to a helpful National Highways Operator.
This may be DULL, but it could save your life.
