 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
_map.svg) | ||||
 The M42 from a bridge just east of the M42/A45, looking south towards junction 6 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
Part of E05 | ||||
| Maintained byNational Highways | ||||
| Length | 40.0 mi (64.4 km) | |||
| Existed | 1976–present | |||
| History | Opened: 1976 Completed: 1989 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Southwest end | Catshill | |||
| Major intersections |  M5 motorway   J3a →M40 motorway   J7 →M6 motorway  M6 motorway  M6 motorway   M6 Toll | |||
| Northeast end |   A42Appleby Magna | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Counties | Worcestershire,Warwickshire,West Midlands,Leicestershire | |||
| Primary destinations | Bromsgrove Solihull Birmingham Airport Tamworth | |||
| Road network | ||||
| ||||
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Click map to enlarge | ||||
 A42(T), looking west from A423 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byNational Highways | ||||
| Length | 15 mi (24 km) | |||
| History | Completed in 1989 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Northeast end |  M1 motorway Kegworth 52°49′25″N1°18′17″W / 52.8235°N 1.3047°W /52.8235; -1.3047 (A42 road (northeastern end)) | |||
| Major intersections |   J14 →A453 road   / J13 →A511 road/A512 road | |||
| Southwest end | / M42 motorway/A444 road Appleby Magna 52°41′07″N1°33′00″W / 52.6854°N 1.5499°W /52.6854; -1.5499 (A42 road (southwestern end)) | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Constituent country | England | |||
| Counties | Leicestershire | |||
| Primary destinations | East Midlands Airport | |||
| Road network | ||||
| ||||
TheM42 motorway runs north east fromBromsgrove inWorcestershire to just south-west ofAshby-de-la-Zouch inLeicestershire, passingRedditch,Solihull, theNational Exhibition Centre (NEC) andTamworth on the way, serving the east of theBirmingham metropolitan area. The section between theM40 and junction 4 of theM6 forms – though unsigned as such – a part ofEurorouteE05. Northwards beyond junction 11, the route is continued as theA42; 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 ofBirmingham, reachingTamworth and connecting the M5 and M6 motorways, were announced in 1972.
The first section opened in November 1976 linkingBirmingham Airport with theM6 motorway.[1]
The curve around the south-eastern side of Solihull opened in September 1985 followed by the section from the M6 with theA5 at Tamworth in December 1985.[citation needed] The southern section of the motorway toAlvechurch just north ofRedditch to form a junction with theA441 and from A5 at Tamworth with theA444 atMeasham opened in 1986.[1]
In 1987, the section to theA38 atBromsgrove, 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 theM1 motorway nearNottingham.[1] The A42 is built to a similar standard to the M42, being a grade separateddual carriageway. The 6-mile (9.7 km)Measham andAshby-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.
Junction 3a was remodelled to give priority to traffic operating between the now westbound section of the M42 and the extendedM40 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 theM6 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 ALMSmart Motorway which is currently not on plan to take place due to the cancellation of new Smart Motorways in 2023.[3][4]
The current road is the second incarnation of the A42. The original (1923) route wasReading toBirmingham viaOxford. The whole road was renumbered in 1935 – the section from Reading toShillingford became part of theA329, Shillingford to Oxford became part of theA423 and Oxford to Birmingham became part of theA34. In 1993 the A423 was itself renumbered, with the section formerly the A42 becoming part of theA4074 from Reading to Oxford. The modern M42 does interchange with the former A42 at junction 4 nearSolihull: Stratford Road now being numbered A34 to the north of the junction and A3400 to the south.
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 theM25 around London, and theM60 aroundManchester, 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 therush 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 toBirmingham Airport andBirmingham 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]
Data fromdriver 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.
Download coordinates as:
| A42 road junctions | ||
| Northbound exits | Junction | Southbound exits |
| Road merges ontoM1continuing towardsNottingham | M1 J23A Services | Start of road |
East Midlands ,Nottingham (S),Derby(A6)A453Donington Park services | No access (on-slip only) | |
| Castle DoningtonA453 | J14 | No access (on-slip only) |
| Ashby,Coalville,LeicesterA511,LoughboroughA512 | J13 | Ashby,Burton,CoalvilleA511 |
| SnarestoneB4116,Ashby | J12 | Snarestone,MeashamB4116 |
| Start of road | M42 J11 Services | NuneatonA444 Non-motorway traffic |
| Burton upon Trent,MeashamA444 | Road continues asM42towardsTamworth | |
Text was copied from this source, which is available under anOpen Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.Download coordinates as:
| Great Britain | .svg) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Former | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Unbuilt | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Junctions (  Category) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bridges | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Related articles | ||||||||||||||||||||
 Transport in Worcestershire | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road |
| ||||||||||||||
| Rail |
| ||||||||||||||
| Buses |
| ||||||||||||||
| Waterways |
| ||||||||||||||
| Footpaths |
| ||||||||||||||
| Cycle paths | |||||||||||||||
