Motorway lane cut short in city (5)
I believe the answer is:
milan
'city' is the definition.
(Milan is an example)
'motorway lane cut short' is the wordplay.
'motorway' becomes 'mi' (resembles M1, English motorway).
'cut short' means to remove the last letter.
'lane' with its last letter taken off is 'lan'.
'mi'+'lan'='MILAN'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for milan that I've seen before include "Doorstep deliverer" , "N. Italian city" , "Italian city with La Scala opera house" , "town" , "Italian industrial city" .)