Editing M45 motorway (section)

==History==
Built in 1959 when the M1 (as part of a link from London to [[Birmingham]]) went as far as Junction 18, the M45 was designed to dissipate some of the motorway traffic before the M1 terminated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1m10m45.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021104195212/http://www.iht.org/motorway/m1m10m45.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 November 2002 |title=The Motorway Archive Scheme Page |publisher=Iht.org |access-date=1 January 2012 }}</ref> Its equivalent at the southern end of the M1 is the former [[M10 motorway (Great Britain)|M10]], which was downgraded on 1 May 2009 to become part of the [[A414 road|A414]].

As the signposted route to Birmingham, accompanied by a boom in private motor ownership in the 1960s, the M45 (and its effective continuation, the final {{convert|30|mi|km}} or so along the predominantly dual carriageway A45), formed a key leg of one of the busiest roads in Britain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/m45/ |title=M45 at the motorway database |publisher=Cbrd.co.uk |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref>

In 1972, the opening of the [[M6 motorway|M6]] parallel to the north provided a much faster route through to the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] from London. Most traffic diverted to this route, and since January 1991 additional West Midlands traffic,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://motorwayarchive.ihtservices.co.uk/en/motorways/motorway-listing/m40/m40-waterstock-j8a-to-umberslade-m42--j3a/index.cfm |title=M40. Waterstock (J8A) to Umberslade (M42 - J3A) |access-date=7 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606180530/http://motorwayarchive.ihtservices.co.uk/en/motorways/motorway-listing/m40/m40-waterstock-j8a-to-umberslade-m42--j3a/index.cfm |archive-date=6 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> whether to the south of that region, or from the south side of London has often used the [[M40 motorway]] parallel to the south, leaving the route with only a fraction of its previous traffic.

A limited-access junction (Eastbound exit and Westbound entry) was added in September 1991,{{cn|date=September 2024}} around two-thirds of the way along from the M1, south of [[Dunchurch]], the main southern suburban village (to Rugby) nearby. Apart from this, the motorway is very much in its 'as-built' condition and unlike its feeder motorway, the M1 its land use has not expanded, in a county that has three motorways running east–west almost wholly across it, [[Warwickshire]].  The choice of routes means that logistics operations are an important part of the economy of [[Coventry]] and [[Rugby, Warwickshire|Rugby]].