It has been suggested that A42 road (England) be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since July 2024. |
M42 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Route information | ||||
Part of E05 | ||||
Maintained by National Highways | ||||
Length | 40.0 mi (64.4 km) | |||
Existed | 1976–present | |||
History | Opened: 1976 Completed: 1989 | |||
Major junctions | ||||
Southwest end | Catshill | |||
M5 motorway J3a → M40 motorway J7 → M6 motorway M6 motorway M6 motorway M6 Toll | ||||
Northeast end | A42 Appleby Magna | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United Kingdom | |||
Counties | Worcestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Leicestershire | |||
Primary destinations | Bromsgrove Solihull Birmingham Airport Tamworth | |||
Road network | ||||
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The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south-west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth on the way, serving the east of the Birmingham metropolitan area. The section between the M40 and junction 4 of the M6 forms – though unsigned as such – a part of Euroroute E05. Northwards beyond junction 11, the route is continued as the A42; the junctions on this section, 12–14, are numbered like a continuation of the motorway, but the road has non-motorway status from here.
Plans for a new motorway by-passing the south and east of Birmingham, reaching Tamworth and connecting the M5 and M6 motorways, were announced in 1972.
The first section opened in November 1976 linking Birmingham Airport with the M6 motorway. [1]
The curve around the south-eastern side of Solihull opened in September 1985 followed by the section from the M6 with the A5 at Tamworth in December 1985.[ citation needed ] The southern section of the motorway to Alvechurch just north of Redditch to form a junction with the A441 and from A5 at Tamworth with the A444 at Measham opened in 1986. [1]
In 1987, the section to the A38 at Bromsgrove, 15 miles (24 km) south of Birmingham was completed. [1] and then in December 1989, the motorway was completed with the opening of the link from the M5.[ citation needed ]
A planned section north of the M6 running to the M1 near Nottingham was never constructed as planned being replaced by the A42 link, a trunk road which was completed in August 1989 to link with the M1 motorway near Nottingham. [1]
When first built, there was no direct connection between the M5 South and M42. Westbound M42 traffic similarly had no direct connection to the M5 North. Instead traffic had to use the A38 between M5 junction 4 and M42 junction 1.
Junction 3a was remodelled to give priority to traffic operating between the now westbound section of the M42 and the extended M40 motorway, which opened in stages between December 1989 and January 1991.
The section of the M42 between junctions 7A and 9 was re-built as part of the M6 Toll works and now forms the link between the M6 and the southern end of the toll road. The M6 Toll opened in 2003.
Active Traffic Management with hard shoulder running and variable speed limits were introduced in 2006.
Since the 1990s, there have been constant plans to build a new service station on the motorway south of Birmingham Airport and the NEC, but this has yet to be built. [2] . In 2019 Solihull Planning Committee rejected two plans to build a new service station near junction 4 or next to junction 5. However, in 2022 the Planning Inspector approved plans to allow the plans to proceed at the junction 5 scheme, subject to the road being a full ALM Smart Motorway which is currently not on plan to take place due to the cancellation of new Smart Motorways in 2023. [3] [4]
Along with sections of the M5 and M6, the southern sections of the M42 form the Birmingham Motorway Box around Birmingham. Similar to an orbital motorway such as the M25 around London, and the M60 around Manchester, there are areas where this orbital system does not work well. One such point is junction 3A, the link between the M42 and the M40, where traffic is often heavy in the rush hour. The section between the M42 and M6 is often very busy too especially around junction 6 for Birmingham Airport and NEC. The 2024 newly constructed J5a should eliminate some of these queues. [5] [6]
Active Traffic Management (ATM) was launched as a pilot scheme on the M42 operating between junction 3a and 7 with mandatory variable speed limits, hard shoulder running, better driver information signs and a new incident management system. This system allows operators to open and close any lane to traffic in order to help manage congestion or an incident. Between 2006 and 2007, journey times have decreased by 26% northbound and 9% southbound and journey time variability has decreased by 27%. [7] Due to the success of the trial this system was later extended northbound to junction 9 of the M42 (and onto the adjacent M6 to junction 5) and southbound along the M40 to junction 15 as part of the first phase of a nationwide roll out of the rebranded 'Managed motorways; concept.
As of 18 December 2024 a new junction named junction 5a located between Solihull junction 5 and Birmingham Airport/NEC junction 6 and 2.4KM of new dual carriageway the A4545 alongside the motorway has been opened to provide direct access to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham Business Park and to reduce congestion in the area. [10]
Work started in 2021 to build the new junction and road and finished on schedule at the end of 2024. [11] [12]
This article contains a bulleted list or table of intersections which should be presented in a properly formatted junction table.(December 2021) |
Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. [13] If a junction extends over several hundred metres and both start and end points are known, both are shown.
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