M42 motorway

A42
A42
	Click map to enlarge
	A42(T), looking west from A423
Route information
	Maintained by National Highways
Length	15 mi (24 km)
History	Completed in 1989
Major junctions
Northeast end	; M1 motorway; Kegworth; 52°49′25″N 1°18′17″W / 52.8235°N 1.3047°W
	; J14 → A453 road; /; J13 → A511 road/A512 road
Southwest end	/; M42 motorway/A444 road; Appleby Magna; 52°41′07″N 1°33′00″W / 52.6854°N 1.5499°W
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Counties	Leicestershire
Primary; destinations	East Midlands Airport
Road network
	Roads in the United Kingdom; Motorways; A and B road zones;

M42
M42
	The M42 from a bridge just east of the M42/A45, looking south towards junction 6
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
	Roads in the United Kingdom; Motorways; A and B road zones;

Looking north bound towards restricted junction 14.

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.

History

Planning and construction

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] The A42 is built to a similar standard to the M42, being a grade separated dual carriageway. The 6-mile (9.7 km) Measham and Ashby-de-la-Zouch bypass section was opened in August 1989 at a cost of £33m. The original planned line of the M42 saw it joining the M1 further to the north, crossing what is now the A50 Derby Southern Bypass and meeting the M1 north of Bardills Island (A52/M1 interchange).^{[citation needed]}

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.

Operational history

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]

History of the road number

The current road is the second incarnation of the A42. The original (1923) route was Reading to Birmingham via Oxford. The whole road was renumbered in 1935 – the section from Reading to Shillingford became part of the A329, Shillingford to Oxford became part of the A423 and Oxford to Birmingham became part of the A34. In 1993 the A423 was itself renumbered, with the section formerly the A42 becoming part of the A4074 from Reading to Oxford. The modern M42 does interchange with the former A42 at junction 4 near Solihull: Stratford Road now being numbered A34 to the north of the junction and A3400 to the south.

Features

Birmingham Motorway Box

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]

Managed motorways and Active Traffic Management

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.

Incidents and accidents

A collision involving 160 vehicles occurred on 10 March 1997 in fog in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire which resulted in three deaths and 60 injuries.^[8]
Drivers have rated the M42 as the worst motorway in England, in a 2024 survey from Transport Focus, scoring 56 per cent for overall satisfaction from road users, citing speed limits ("for no reason"), delays, roadworks and potholes.^[9]

New junction

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]

Junctions

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.

Map this section's coordinates using OpenStreetMap

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M42 motorway junctions
mile	km	South-westbound exits (A carriageway)	Junction	North-eastbound exits (B carriageway)	Coordinates
0.0 0.9	0.0 1.4	The North West, Birmingham (W, N & C), Stourbridge, (M6) M5(N) The South West, Worcester M5(S)	M5 J4A	Start of motorway	52°20′53″N 2°04′29″W / 52.3480°N 2.0746°W / 52.3480; -2.0746 (M42, Start of motorway)
1.4 1.6	2.3 2.6	Bromsgrove A38	J1	No access (on-slip only)	52°21′20″N 2°02′45″W / 52.3556°N 2.0458°W / 52.3556; -2.0458 (M42, J1)
5.6 6.0	9.0 9.6	Birmingham (S) A441 Hopwood Park services	J2 Services	Birmingham (S) A441 Hopwood Park services	52°21′42″N 1°56′56″W / 52.3618°N 1.9489°W / 52.3618; -1.9489 (M42, J2)
8.4	13.5	Entering Worcestershire	J3	Birmingham (S), Redditch, Evesham A435	52°21′18″N 1°53′09″W / 52.3549°N 1.8859°W / 52.3549; -1.8859 (M42, J3)
8.8	14.1	Birmingham (S), Redditch, Evesham A435	J3	Entering Warwickshire
11.7 12.2	18.8 19.7	End of variable speed limit	J3A (TOTSO NB) ^{[coord 1]}	Start of variable speed limit	52°20′55″N 1°48′41″W / 52.3486°N 1.8114°W / 52.3486; -1.8114 (M42, J3A)
		London, Warwick, Stratford M40	J3A (TOTSO NB) ^{[coord 1]}	London, Warwick, Stratford M40
		Entering Warwickshire		Entering West Midlands	52°21′46″N 1°48′15″W / 52.3629°N 1.8043°W / 52.3629; -1.8043
14.2 14.5	22.8 23.3	Shirley A34	J4	Shirley A34	52°22′47″N 1°47′11″W / 52.3797°N 1.7865°W / 52.3797; -1.7865 (M42, J4)
16.5 16.9	26.6 27.2	Solihull A41	J5	Solihull A41	52°24′18″N 1°45′00″W / 52.4051°N 1.7500°W / 52.4051; -1.7500 (M42, J5)
		No access (on-slip only)	J5a	Birmingham Airport A4545	52°25′28″N 1°43′12″W / 52.424381°N 1.720063°W / 52.424381; -1.720063 (M42, J5a)
19.9 20.3	32.1 32.7	Birmingham (E), Birmingham International , Birmingham , National Exhibition Centre, Coventry A45	J6	Birmingham (E), Birmingham International , Birmingham , National Exhibition Centre A45(W) Coventry (S & W), N.E.C. A45(E)	52°26′42″N 1°42′36″W / 52.4451°N 1.7099°W / 52.4451; -1.7099 (M42, J6)
22.1 22.6	35.6 36.4	No access (on-slip only)	J7 ^{[coord 2]}	The North West, Birmingham (C & N) M6(N)	52°28′26″N 1°42′41″W / 52.4738°N 1.7115°W / 52.4738; -1.7115 (M42, J7)
		Entering West Midlands		Entering Warwickshire	52°28′28″N 1°42′41″W / 52.4744°N 1.7114°W / 52.4744; -1.7114
22.7 22.9	36.6 36.8	No access	J7A (TOTSO SB) ^{[coord 3]}	London (M1), Coventry M6	52°28′53″N 1°42′37″W / 52.4815°N 1.7103°W / 52.4815; -1.7103 (M42, J7A)
		London (N & E) (M1), Coventry (N & E) M6	J7A (TOTSO SB) ^{[coord 3]}	No access (on-slip only)	52°29′28″N 1°42′54″W / 52.4912°N 1.7151°W / 52.4912; -1.7151 (M42, J7B)
24.5	39.4	Birmingham (Central, E, N & W) M6(N)	J8	No access (on-slip only)	52°30′33″N 1°43′32″W / 52.5091°N 1.7255°W / 52.5091; -1.7255 (M42, J8)
		No access (on slip only)	J9	The North West, Cannock, Lichfield M6 Toll	52°31′45″N 1°43′47″W / 52.5293°N 1.7296°W / 52.5293; -1.7296 (M42, J8A)
26.7	42.9	Start of variable speed limit		Kingsbury A4097, Lichfield A446	52°32′20″N 1°43′35″W / 52.5388°N 1.7263°W / 52.5388; -1.7263 (M42, J9)
26.7	42.9	The North West M6 Toll, Coleshill A446, A4097		End of variable speed limit
32.4	52.2	Nuneaton, Tamworth A5, Lichfield (A38) Tamworth services	J10 Services	Nuneaton, Tamworth A5 Tamworth services	52°36′12″N 1°38′30″W / 52.6033°N 1.6416°W / 52.6033; -1.6416 (M42, J10)
		Entering Warwickshire		Entering Leicestershire	52°40′19″N 1°33′40″W / 52.6720°N 1.5612°W / 52.6720; -1.5612
39.7	63.9	Start of motorway	J11 Services ^{[coord 4]}	Burton upon Trent, Measham A444	52°41′20″N 1°32′55″W / 52.6890°N 1.5485°W / 52.6890; -1.5485 (M42, J11)
40.0	64.4	Nuneaton A444 Non-motorway traffic	J11 Services ^{[coord 4]}	End of motorway Road continues as A42 towards East Midlands Airport	52°41′34″N 1°32′50″W / 52.6929°N 1.5471°W / 52.6929; -1.5471 (M42, J11)
Notes Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access

A42 junctions

A42 road junctions
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
Road merges onto M1 continuing towards Nottingham	M1 J23A Services	Start of road
East Midlands , Nottingham (S), Derby (A6) A453 Donington Park services	M1 J23A Services	No access (on-slip only)
Castle Donington A453	J14	No access (on-slip only)
Ashby, Coalville, Leicester A511, Loughborough A512	J13	Ashby, Burton, Coalville A511
Snarestone B4116, Ashby	J12	Snarestone, Measham B4116
Start of road	M42 J11 Services	Nuneaton A444 Non-motorway traffic
Burton upon Trent, Measham A444	M42 J11 Services	Road continues as M42 towards Tamworth

Service stations

Donington Park services

Coordinate list

^ 52°20′56″N 1°48′35″W / 52.3488°N 1.8097°W / 52.3488; -1.8097 (Junction 3a) Termination point M40
^ 52°28′39″N 1°42′39″W / 52.4774°N 1.7109°W / 52.4774; -1.7109 (Junction 7) Southern M6 / M42 intersection
^ 52°29′01″N 1°42′38″W / 52.4837°N 1.7106°W / 52.4837; -1.7106 (Junction 7a) Northern M6 / M42 intersection
^ 52°41′37″N 1°32′49″W / 52.6935°N 1.5470°W / 52.6935; -1.5470 (Junction 11) J11, A42

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "M42. Birmingham to Nottingham Motorway M5 (J4A) to Tamworth (J11) | CIHT". ukmotorwayarchive.ciht.org.uk. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ Griffin, Jon (4 December 2014). "Huge new motorway service station planned for M42 in Solihull – creating 300 jobs". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ Chaplin, Emily (29 March 2022). "Rejected M42 services and hotel to go ahead". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "All new smart motorways scrapped". GOV.UK. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "M42 Traffic News, Updates & Travel Information". RAC Route Planner. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "M42 junction 6". nationalhighways.co.uk. National Highways. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "'Extra lane' plan to be extended". BBC News. 25 October 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2007.
^ "M42 death crash driver wins back his licence". Archive.worcesternews.co.uk. 10 November 2001. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
^ "M42 motorway rated England's worst in driver survey". bbc.com. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
^ DeSouza, Naomi (5 January 2025). "New Birmingham Airport road opens after years of works". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ Chaplin, Emily (15 September 2021). "Photos of new M42 link road which will improve routes to Birmingham Airport". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
^ "M42 junction 6". nationalhighways.co.uk. National Highways. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2024. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
^ Driver Location Signs, M42 J1-7 (map) – Highway Authority, 2009

External links

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