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The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England (with the exception of North Ockendon), in the United Kingdom. A narrower concept was first mooted in the 1960s as part of the plan to build four ring roads around London. A few sections, based on the abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it was completed in 1986. It is one of the busiest of the British motorway network: 196,000 vehicles were recorded on a busy day near London Heathrow Airport in 2003 and the western half experienced an average daily flow of 147,000 vehicles in 2007.〔(Office for National Statistics ) Social Trends - Transport p197〕 Although technically not an entire orbital motorway – a short non-motorway stretch forms the Dartford Crossing (A282) of the River Thames – the M25, at is Europe's second longest orbital road after the Berliner Ring, which is . ==Description== Originally built almost wholly as a dual three-lane motorway, much of the motorway has been widened: to dual four-lanes for almost half, to a dual five-lanes section between junctions 12 and 14 and a dual six-lane section between junctions 14 and 15. Further widening is in progress of minor sections with plans for managed motorways in many others.〔 To the east of London the two ends of the M25 are joined to complete a loop by the non-motorway A282 Dartford Crossing of the River Thames between Thurrock and Dartford. This crossing, which consists of twin two-lane tunnels and the four-lane QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) bridge, is named ''Canterbury Way''. Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a toll, its level depending on the kind of vehicle. This stretch being non-motorway allows traffic, including that not permitted to use motorways, to cross the River Thames east of the Woolwich Ferry; the only crossing further to the east is a passenger ferry between Gravesend, in Kent, and Tilbury, in Essex. At Junction 5, the clockwise carriageway of the M25 is routed off the main north–south dual carriageway onto the main east–west dual carriageway with the main north–south carriageway becoming the A21. In the opposite direction, to the east of the point where the M25 diverges from the main east–west carriageway, that carriageway become the M26 motorway. The radial distance from London (taken as Charing Cross) varies from in Potters Bar to in Byfleet. Three Greater London Boroughs (Enfield, Hillingdon and Havering) have realigned their boundaries to the M25 for minor stretches; while in others, most notably in Essex and Surrey, the radial gap between Greater London and the motorway reaches ,〔(Grid reference Finder ) Generic map measurement tools〕 neither of which coincide with the Metropolitan Green Belt. Major towns listed as destinations (right), in various counties, adjoin the M25. North Ockendon is the only settlement of Greater London situated outside the M25. In 2004, following an opinion poll, the London Assembly mooted for consultation alignment of the Greater London boundary with the M25.〔This move would be bound to be resisted by the communities affected, including such major towns as Watford, Loughton and Epsom. (London Assembly ) – ''Poll says M25 is London's "natural boundary"''. 2 March 2004.〕 "Inside the M25" and "outside/beyond the M25" are colloquial, looser alternatives to "Greater London" sometimes used in haulage. The Communications Act 2003 explicitly uses the M25 as the boundary in requiring a proportion of television programmes to be made outside the London area.〔 that requires "a suitable proportion of the programmes made in the United Kingdom" to be made "in the United Kingdom outside the M25 area", defined in Section 362 as "the area the outer boundary of which is represented by the London Orbital Motorway (M25)".〕 Two Motorway service areas are on the M25, and two others are directly accessible from it. Those on the M25 are Clacket Lane between junctions 5 and 6 (in the south-east) and Cobham between junctions 9 and 10 (in the south-west). Those directly accessible from it are South Mimms off junction 23 (to the north of London) and Thurrock off junction 31 (to the east of London). Cobham services opened on 13 September 2012. Originally, the M25 was unlit until except for sections around Heathrow, major interchanges and Junctions 23–30. Originally, low pressure sodium (SOX) lighting was the most prominent technology used, but widening projects from the 1990s onwards have all used high-pressure sodium (SON) lighting and this has diminished the original installations. By 2014 only one significant stretch was still SOX-lit (Junction 25–26) and the units were removed the same year. The motorway passes through five counties. Junctions 1A–5 are in Kent, 6–14 are in Surrey, 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire, 17–25 are in Hertfordshire, and 26–31 are in Essex. Policing of the road is carried out by an integrated policing group made up of the Metropolitan, Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. The M25 is one of Europe's busiest motorways. In 2003, a maximum of 196,000 vehicles a day were recorded on the motorway just south of London Heathrow Airport between junctions 13 and 14.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「M25 motorway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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