29th October: The M25

On this date in 1986 The final section of the M25 around London was opened. Here are ten things you might not know about the London Orbital Motorway.

1. The M25 is 117-miles (188 km) long and encircles London in the UK. Well, almost. The Dartford Crossing (A282) of the River Thames isn't motorway. The road briefly becomes the A282, or Canterbury Way at that point..
2. Nor is greater London entirely inside it. One area of Greater London is situated outside the M25 - South Ockendon.
3. It is the second biggest ring road in Europe after the Berliner Ring, which is 122 miles (196 km).
4. The M25 took more than 11 years to complete, and cost nearly £1billion ‎More than two million tons of concrete and 3.5million tons of asphalt were used to build it, and it has 10,606 lights and 2,959 illuminated signs along its length.
5. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher officially opened the M25 on 29 October 1986. The opening ceremony took place in the section between J22 and J23 (London Colney and South Mimms). The first breakdown occurred on the same day.
6. The M25 passes through five counties: Kent, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Essex. Policing of the road is carried out by an integrated policing group from the Metropolitan, Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces.
7. There are now four service stations on or directly accessible from the M25. These are Clacket Lane, Cobham, South Mimms and Thurrock.
8. Some people love it. The M25 was so popular when it opened that people from Norfolk booked bus rides around it, and Chris and Sue Glazier, of Ashford, Kent, chose to spend their wedding night driving around it. Iain Sinclair took on the challenge of walking around it and published a book, London Orbital, about his journey. It has a special place in the hearts of ravers, because it was the route many would take to illegal raves in the 1990s. The dance band Orbital were named after it.
9. A lot of people hate it. "How can I avoid the M25?" is the most frequently asked question on the AA route planner. It's famous for its traffic jams and has been referred to as "the world's first circular car park". Chris Rea's song, The Road to Hell was inspired by driving on the M25 during rush hour.
10. Assuming you stick to the speed limit and there are no jams, a circuit around the M25 would take you an hour and 40 minutes. People have used the motorway for illegal car racing at night, aiming to get around in less than an hour. The highest speed recorded by police on the M25 was 147mph, by Leslie Coe, in a Porsche 911 in 1992. He lost his licence.