A new look

After 18 years, we're experimenting with a new look for the Motorway Database's famous exit lists. It's a big change - but not one made lightly.

Take a look at the M3's page for a sample of the future. All its graphics have been completely redrawn and - aside from the fact they've all been checked and some minor inaccuracies have been fixed - you'll find two differences compared to the old ones.

1. They're bigger and clearer

Ahh, that's better, isn't it? The colours are a bit bolder and easier to distinguish and the images themselves are bigger on the page. It's easier to make out the path of sliproads in complex junctions because the drawing style is much neater. Lovely.

2. They're vector graphics

This is the real change. Vector graphics are made up of lines and shapes, not individual pixels, and they can be scaled up to any size you like. If you're using a phone or tablet, try pinching to zoom in on them - you'll see they scale up without becoming blocky, so you can get closer in for a more detailed view.

To make it even more obvious, this comparison puts one of the new diagrams side-by-side with its counterpart that was originally drawn in 2002.

Old graphic	New graphic

Why the change?

The Motorway Database has been a fixture of this website since the very beginning in 2001. Graphical exit lists or strip maps, one of the things the Database is known for, first appeared on 15 March 2002 when the M18 was blessed with one. (I've no idea why the M18 was first. It was a long time ago.)

That means I've been producing those little junction diagrams, stringing them together and periodically updating them for about 18 years. And for a long time now, that's been an absolute headache. Let me explain.

Back in 2001, when this website first started, I used a graphics package called Paint Shop Pro. It was pretty up to date and it ran beautifully on my Windows 98 PC. I used it for all the website images, and when I started producing exit lists, I used its thrillingly advanced vector drawing tools.

All those little diagrams have to match. Some appear dozens of times across different route maps; others have to be redrawn when a layout changes and slotted in seamlessly among other graphics made years previously. Unfortunately, producing graphics that match can only really be done by using the same software. (Believe me, I've tried. Faking it is so dazzlingly time-consuming that it’s never been worthwhile.)

Here we are, then, 18 years later, and my faithful old copy of Paint Shop Pro 7 - released in 2000 - has been running on a virtual Windows desktop emulated on my Mac. The graphics software has been past its sell-by date for years, but now the emulator is also past its sell-by date, unsupported and refusing to run. This is why no changes have been made to the Motorway Database for months - I literally can't update the old graphics any more. The A14's exit list, for example, still embarassingly shows its old route between Cambridge and Huntingdon, even though the layout completely changed months ago.

One solution would be to find a way to run Paint Shop Pro again and yes, that could be done. But it really is getting silly now. Much better to take the opportunity to make new graphics in a modern software package that are up to date. So that is what I'm doing.

What happens now?

We're about to enter a (potentially very long) transition period where, one by one, all the routes in the Motorway Database have new graphics drawn for them. It won't be quick because that is a lot of graphics - more than 1,500.

The priority will be routes that need an existing graphic to be changed. In between, as time allows, I'll tackle the rest.

And in the meantime, I would welcome your views on the new graphics below, and any feedback you might have on what would make them better before I make a start on creating the other 1,490 of them.