Former Doncaster motorway carriageway is £2m 'ghost road' after being axed following just six years use

But after only a few years of use, this stretch of what was once the A18(M) is being reclaimed by nature and has been rated as one of the UK’s most expensive abandoned roads.

According to car dealer chain Bristol Street Motors, the stretch of road, just under a quarter of a mile in length, is in one of the most expensive abandoned roads in the country, in a list of 20 they have drawn up.

They have estimated that on the basis of current prices for road building, it would cost £2.63m to build new.

A spokesman said: “What were once thriving highways are now ghost roads, slowly being reclaimed by nature.”

The abandoned road was part of the A18(M), when it was abandoned in 1979 when the M180 was built.

One of its carriageways is now used as a slip road for the M180 near Tudworth Lane, Thorne. But the other carriageway is becoming broken up as grass and vegetation break up the surface.

Bristol Street say the UK would have wasted £2.63m on the road, had it been built today.

A spokesman said: “In fact, it has been dubbed a Lost Motorway, and only lasted approximately six years – but building it cost taxpayers a hefty £2.63m.”

Brad Jackson, a former Doncaster resident and blogger on The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts website, said the road connected the A18 to the M18 at junction three, and was a rough surface for cars.

He said: “I really loved this little motorway. You couldn't go at any speed, which meant you could examine it as you went by. It was two carriageways of two lanes, but you would be lucky if both lanes would be open. As the M180 construction progressed, the A18(M) got gradually worse.”

HIghways England said the site was not their land.

Doncaster Council has been contacted for comment.

The A18(M) is much cheaper than the road that topped the list. A stretch of old road in Argyll, Scotland, running adjacent to the current A83 is rated the longest and most expensive abandoned road on the list. It runs for 2.4 miles at Glen Kinglass and it is claimed it would cost £30 million to build in 2020.

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