Talk:M5 motorway

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[edit] Junction 24

While J24 is signed for Minehead, it is actually 25 miles away from the motorway! Also, driving north it's faster to leave the M25 at J25, while now that the Bridgwater "northern distributor road" (=30mph bypass) has been built it must be quicker going south to leave at J23... 80.46.142.136 12:15, 4 Sep 2004 (UTC)

you'r right, but the J23 exit is not properly signed yet for Minehead.

Pyrotec 19:59, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Page move?

Surely moving this page for disambiguation was a bad idea - M5 (Sydney) is much better known as Metroad 5 anyway. Majority of M5 motorway Google search is English M5... Erath 21:54, August 15, 2005 (UTC)

Redoubling my claim now that the Sydney motorway has been moved back to Metroad 5. Erath 12:31, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

This will provide continuity with other UK motorways. It was originally disambiguated for "M5 motorway (Sydney)", which was, always should have been, and has now been reverted to, Metroad 5.

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~
  • Support as per the reasons above, which are my own. Erath 09:36, September 5, 2005 (UTC)
  • Support. Timrollpickering 10:42, 5 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Oppose. – AxSkov (☏) 03:35, 6 September 2005 (UTC)
    Why? Merely opposing isn't actionable... James F. (talk) 01:37, 18 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Tentative support, since it's the only article with that name, although I note that there's also a Northern Ireland M5 motorway. sjorford #£@%&$?! 08:54, 12 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Support, no need for disambiguation. James F. (talk) 01:37, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

Moved 19 Sep 2005. I still haven't altered all the links to the old location as I ran out of time this afternoon. I also felt it necessary to alter the disambiguating statement at the top of the page to the {{otheruses}} tag because there is also the M5 motorway (Northern Ireland). -- Francs2000 15:54, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move, May 2006

[edit] Survey

Add *Support or *Oppose followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~
  • Oppose Seems logical to disambigulate a roadway name that is not unique and likely to be being used elsewhere. FearÉIREANN\(caint) 19:39, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Support M5 had between 250 and 500 links to it, it was then changed to M5 motorway without consultation and changed again without consultation to M5 motorway (England) leaving broken links, most of which point to M5 motorway. Those who rename articles must take responsibility for the links they brake. Currently someone needs to move the links to its present name, or rename the article back to M5 motorway. It appears to be easier to rename. Pyrotec 20:00, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
  • Support. Joe D (t) 20:42, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
Done. —Nightstallion (?) 08:41, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Junction 8

I have restored information that was reverted recently. I have also added a reference to confirm the information.Regan123 22:35, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

The reason I reverted the last changes was that, firstly, it was an anonymous edit with no history; and secondly it was incorrect or inaccurate and it was easier to revert it than to correct it. Looking at your reference, the last editor appeared to have used the reference material in too narrow a sense. Their reverted change took out all the widening of the southern section of the M5 and only refered to conversion between junctions 3 and 8. I also considered that 'conversion' was the wrong word. New carriageways were added and bridges were rebuilt and, around Gloucestershire, relocated. Sometime the motorway was moved sideways. None of that came out in the reverted edit.
I drove, or was a passenger, from South of Bristol up the M5 and onto the M6 for much of the 10 years or so the widening took place. The reverted changes appeared to be the work of someone with no firsthand knowledge of what took place. Your revision is better. Pyrotec 23:01, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
Ok. Sorry if I seemed that I was being unpleasant - I wasn't. I think the article needs cleaning up and further references added. I will add i to me "to do" list, which seems to get ever longer :-) Regan123 23:22, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] October 2006 Roadworks

Anyone know when the roadworks on the link between M6 south and M5 will be finished? I'm convinced that this is the cause of the M^ congestion back to J11 most evenings. My 6 minutes (in normal times) of M6 is usually taking 30+ minutes at the moment. I can't find anything on the Highways Agency website. TIA MikesPlant 12:49, 26 October 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Coordinates for key features

I have just been in to each of the service station articles for the M5 and have added a coordinates template. Having this in an article means that you can click a link (that appears on the top right corner of the page) and be taken to a number of geographic information / mapping links that allow you, for example, to view the actual location of the feature in the article in a tool such as Google Maps.

Encoding the coordinates is really easy. I searched for the service station by name at Streetmap then clicked the map until I was happy that the arrow was in the right place. Then I clicked "Convert/Measure Coordinates" link to get the OSGB grid reference and decimal latitude and longitude for the arrow on the map. Following that it is simply a case of copy/paste to enter the coords into the template.

Here is an example for Frankley Services {{coor title d|52.429095|N|2.017943|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SO988812)}}. So the latitude is 52.429095, the longitude is 2.017943 and the OSGB gridref is SO988812. Note that the longitude here is in the western hemisphere. Streetmap encodes this with a minus sign. Please omit the minus sign when copy/pasting the coords across.

IMHO adding coords to features, already established Wikipedia practice, adds a nice usability touch to the service stations on this motorway. It could (should?) be extended to service stations on other motorways and possibly to other features like interchanges (if not already applied e.g. Almondsbury Interchange). It could even be taken further by providing coords for each junction - but I'm not going to do that! --Cheesy Mike 15:53, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Good work, but please use {{coord}} instead as it adds a geo microformat. For your example:
{{coord|52.429095|N|2.017943|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SO988812)|display=title}}
though you can use display=inline,title also, which is useful in prose, or infoboxes. Come to think of it, is there an infobox for road junctions? That would also allow the use of the hcard microformat.
Also, your coordinates are overly precise - three decimal places should suffice. You might also like to see how I added coordinates to the first and last junctions in the table on M6 motorway ad to do likewise here (for junctions or service stations, or both). Andy Mabbett 16:44, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
I will use coord instead of coor. As for precision, agreed, but cut/paste is so much easier if no trimming is necessary and the extra digits don't do any harm. Thanks for the feedback. --Cheesy Mike 17:16, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I changed all the coord templates and added coords for the Avonmouth Bridge. That's enough for today!. b.t.w. While on the subject, does using the coord template make an object show up in Google Earth? I have noticed as I browse google earth that certain wikipedia icons and article links appear, but I have no idea how this occurs. --Cheesy Mike 17:49, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Junction 18/18a

The listbox of junctions seems to be wrong. According to it, you drive South on the M5 near Bristol, passing Jn 17 [Bristol (West) A4018 & Severn Beach B4055]. You then (apparently) get to Jn 18 [Avonmouth A4] before Jn 18a [No exit]. This seems to fit with what one actually experiences driving it.

However, going North, this is not representative. You pass the exit for Jn 18 [Avonmouth A4] then shortly after that is the slip road for Jn 18a [SOUTH WALES, Cardiff, Newport M49]. Given there is no southbound exit at Jn 18a, but that the article is currently out of sync with the reality driving North (see [1]) would it not make sense to therefore swap the order of 18 and 18a?

Answers on a postcard please... --Peeky44 20:58, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

I guess you don't know the history and have not read wikipedia. The original M4 bridge, the Severn Bridge, across the Severn Estuary was (and is) linked to junction 15 on the M5 and junction 20 on the M4; but when the new crossing, the Second Severn Crossing, was build the old bridge and its approach roads were renumbered as the M48. The new crossing was numbered M49 and two new junctions were made: junction 18a on the M5 and junction 21 on the M4. Going north on the M5 you leave at junction 18a to get onto the M49; going south on the M5 you leave at junction 20 to get onto the M48 and then leave at junction 21 to join the M49. It helps if you look at a road atlas. Pyrotec 21:40, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
Peeky44 is right. As you cross the Avonmouth Bridge going north you turn off at J18 before you turn for J18A, so the order in the table is reversed. (Or at least it was as I just fixed it!) --Cheesy Mike 23:10, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Coordinates

I was surprised and disappointed to see the coordinates removed from this article with an edit sumamry of "remove travel guide info per WP:NOT", since coordinates are not a "travel guide" and consensus on WP:NOT is that coordinates are acceptable content. I trust that they will now be restored. Andy Mabbett | Talk to Andy Mabbett 22:33, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Systemic bias

Is there any particular reason why this page sits where it does? Other countries have enormously longer and more important M5 motorways, e.g., M5 motorway (Russia). I believe M5 motorway should be reserved for a disambiguation page. --Ghirla-трёп- 17:18, 15 August 2007 (UTC)