Scunthorpe, Lincoln, Hull (via the Humber Bridge), Brigg, Bawtry and the Isle of Axholme can be accessed using the motorway.

The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E22 and is the main route along the south bank of the Humber Estuary.

The initial, and somewhat diminutive section of the motorway was the short-lived A18(M)[citation needed] also known as the Tudworth Link, which connected the roundabout junction with the M18 to the A18/A614.

The easterly A18(M) sliproad is still used, though the original roundabout at junction 1 has now been replaced by a bridge close to Tudworth Hall Farm.

The last section to be built was the Trent viaduct, opened in October 1979 by Kenneth Clarke, despite being 43 weeks late on account of strikes and bad weather.