The M1 is a major north-south motorway in England connecting London to Yorkshire, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom , the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6 .
The motorway is 193 miles (310 km) long and was constructed in four phases; the majority of the motorway was opened in 1959 and between 1965 and 1968. The two ends of the motorway were extended later; the southern end in 1977 and the northern end in 1999.