The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley. The road continues past Bromsgrove, Droitwich Spa, Worcester, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Highbridge, Bridgwater and Taunton on its way to Exeter, ending at Junction 31. It is the primary gateway to south-west England and can get very busy in summer months, especially on Friday afternoons on the southern section.

History

Construction

The first of the M5 motorway to be built was constructed as a dual two-lane motorway (two lanes in each direction), with Worcester County Council acting as engineer.Charlesworth, George (1984), pp.135-140. This section, from Junction 4 (Lydiate Ash) in the north to a trumpet junction with the M50 in the south, opened in 1963.Charlesworth, George (1984), Table 7.3 - pp.100-123. The southern end was called a trumpet junction because of its shape: a 270 degree curved bend. There were no other exits from this trumpet junction though room was left for an extension to the south.

The dual two-lane section between junctions 16 and 17 was built at Filton, near Bristol opened in 1962, with Gloucester County Council acting as engineer which was intended to replace the pre-war Filton bypass. This section was widened to a dual three-lane motorway in 1969.

The section north of Junction 4 was constucted in sections, from 1967 to 1970 together with the Frankley services. Much of the northern section beyond Junction 3, from about Quinton to its junction with the M6 motorway was constructed as an elevated dual 3-lane motorway using concrete pillars.

The M5 was also extended southwards, in sections, from 1967 to 1977, through Somerset, to Exeter, as a dual three-lane motorway together with the Strensham services.

The short section between junctions 27 and 29 was built in 1967/69, by Devon County Council, as the A38 Cullompton Bypass, with the intention that it should become part of the M5. The termini for this section have since been removed, although part of the southern terminal roundabout is now used as an emergency access. It was developed to motorway standards, and incorporated into the M5 in 1975.

Operational history

The section from Junctions 16 and 18 was illuminated in about 1973 as part or a wider policy announced by UK Minister for Transport Industries in 1972 to illuminate the 86 miles (138 km) of UK motorway particularly prone to fog. .

In the late 1980s junction 4a was built as part of the M42 motorway construction project. The route of the M42 was decided as early as 1972 but, due to planning delays, approval at the Bromsgrove end was not obtained until 1986.

The first-built section of M5, from junctions 3 to 8, was widened to provide six lanes (three lanes in each direction) in the early 1990s. During this work the northbound Strensham Services was rebuilt further away from the new junction. Junctions 7 and 8 were also remodelled into a roundabout junction.

The Avonmouth Bridge was converted to eight lanes (four lanes in each direction) in the early 2000s. Later, in 2005–2006, parts of the M5 between Junctions 17 and 20 were widened to 7 lanes (four lanes climbing the hills and three lanes descending the hills); information boards were added and parts of the central reservation was converted to a concrete step barrier. During this stage of construction the M5 became Britain's longest contraflow system,spanning between junctions 19 and 20. The M5 contraflow was said to be the most complicated ever built in the UK as the motorway is on a split level around the steep hills of the Gordano Valley; meaning four lanes plus an additional emergency vehicle lane were squeezed into that section.Most of the contraflow had speed limits of and required six speed cameras to enforce the speed limit through the narrow lanes.



In 2002 a southbound exit for Junction 12 has added. The Highways Agency did not anticipate the traffic flows through the junction and the resultant queues can now extend back onto the motorway. This is because of an increase in traffic from Stroud intending to use the M5 northbound. The distance from junctions 12 and 13 is similar and traffic congestion is heavy on the A419 towards junction 13 whereas it is usually lighter on the B4008 towards junction 12. As traffic leaving the M5 northbound towards Gloucester needs to give way to this traffic coming from the B4008, the queue on the motorway can extend beyond the first sign for the junction.

In 2009 it was announced that the lighting between junctions 30 and 31 had been turned off between midnight and 5am to save energy.

Features

Notable features of the M5 include the four level Almondsbury Interchange, between the M5 and the M4 near Bristol. Another is the Avonmouth Bridge that is often a bottleneck in heavy traffic. Beyond that are the split-level carriageways, as the motorway climbs the sides of the hills above the Gordano valley, between Portishead and Clevedon. Junction 1 surrounds a surviving gatehouse from the former Sandwell Hall.

The M5 follows the route of the A38 road quite closely. The two deviate slightly around Bristol and the area south of Bristol (junctions 16 to 22). The A38 goes straight through the centre of Bristol and passes by Bristol International Airport; whereas the M5 skirts around both of them, with access to the airport from junctions 18, 19 or 22. The A38 continues south from where the M5 finishes in Devon.

Between Junction 21, Weston-super-Mare and Junction 22, Burnham-on-Sea, the M5 passes by an isolated landmark hill called Brent Knoll.

Junctions

Data

from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.

M5 Motorway
km	Northbound exits (B Carriageway)	Junction	Southbound exits (A Carriageway)
0.0	The NORTH WEST, Wolverhampton, Birmingham (North & East), Walsall M6	M6, J8	Start of motorway
4.4	West Bromwich, Birmingham (North West) A41	J1	West Bromwich, Birmingham (North West) A41
8.7	Dudley, Wolverhampton, Birmingham (West) A4123	J2	Dudley, Wolverhampton, Birmingham (West) A4123
13.3	Birmingham (South West & Central) A456	J3	Kidderminster A456
	Frankley Services	Services	Frankley Services
23.8	Birmingham (South) A38 Stourbridge A491	J4	Bromsgrove A38 Stourbridge A491
26.3	NEC, Birmingham Airport,Redditch M42, London (M40, M1)	J4a	Birmingham (South & East), Redditch M42, London (M40)
34.9	Droitwich Spa, Bromsgrove A38	J5	Droitwich Spa A38
	Worcester (North), Kidderminster A449	J6	Worcester (North) A449 Evesham A4538
	Worcester (South) A44	J7	Worcester (South) A44
	Strensham services	Services	Strensham services
64.2	SOUTH WALES, Ross-on-Wye M50	J8	SOUTH WALES, Ross M50
70.9	Tewkesbury A438 Evesham A46	J9	Tewkesbury A438 Evesham A46
77.4	No access	J10	Cheltenham A4019
82.6	Cheltenham, Gloucester (North), Gloucestershire Airport A40	J11	Cheltenham, Gloucester (North), Gloucestershire Airport A40
86.4	Gloucester, Cirencester (East) A417	J11a	London, Cirencester A417
97.3	Gloucester (South) (A38)	J12	Gloucester (South) (A38)
102.2	Stroud A419	J13	Stroud A419
115.7	Michaelwood services	Services	Michaelwood services
118.8	Dursley, Charfield, Falfield, Wotton-under-Edge B4509	J14	Thornbury, Charfield, Falfield, Wotton-under-Edge B4509
	London, Bristol (M32), South Wales, Chepstow (M48) M4 Almondsbury Interchange	J15	London, Bristol (M32), South Wales, Chepstow (M48) M4 Almondsbury Interchange
132.4	Thornbury, Filton A38	J16	Thornbury, Filton A38
135.8	Bristol (West) A4018 Severn Beach B4055	J17	Bristol (West) A4018 Severn Beach B4055
	South Wales, Cardiff, Newport M49	J18a	No access
	Avonmouth, Avonmouth Docks A4	J18	Avonmouth, Avonmouth Docks A4
	Avonmouth Bridge	Bridge	Avonmouth Bridge
145.0	Portishead, Royal Portbury Dock, Easton in Gordano A369 Gordano Services	J19 Services	Portishead, Royal Portbury Dock, Easton in Gordano A369 Gordano Services
155.6	Nailsea, Clevedon B3133	J20	Nailsea, Clevedon B3133
164.6	Weston-super-Mare, Bristol (South) A370	J21	Weston-super-Mare A370
175.6	Sedgemoor services	Services	Sedgemoor Services
179.8	Burnham on Sea, Weston-Super-Mare, Bristol (South), Airport A38	J22	Burnham on Sea, Highbridge A38
188.1	Highbridge A38 Glastonbury, Wells A39	J23	Bridgwater A38 Glastonbury, Wells A39
196.0	Bridgwater, Minehead A38 Bridgwater services	J24 Services	Minehead, (A39) A38 Bridgwater services
206.7	Taunton, Yeovil A358	J25	Taunton, Honiton, Yeovil, Weymouth A358
214.5	Taunton Deane services	Services	Taunton Deane services
217.8	Wellington, Taunton A38	J26	Wellington A38
230.4	Barnstaple, Tiverton A361 Wellington A38 Tiverton Parkway railway station	J27	Barnstaple, Tiverton A361 Willand (B3181) Tiverton Parkway railway station
237.7	Cullompton B3181 Cullompton services	J28 Services	Cullompton B3181 Honiton A373 Cullompton services
254.2	Honiton A30 Exeter International Airport A3015	J29	Honiton A30 Exeter International Airport A3015
254.2	Exeter A379 Sidmouth, Exmouth (A3052) A376 Exeter services	J30 Services	Exeter A379 Sidmouth, Exmouth A376 Exeter services
	Start of motorway	J31	Bodmin, Okehampton A30
	Bodmin, Okehampton A30 Non-motorway traffic		Road becomes A38 from/to Plymouth and Torquay

Coordinate list

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

References

Notes

1. Ordnance Survey One Inch Map of Great Britain, Series 7 Sheet 156, major roads revised 1963.
2. The Motorway Archive - M42
3. The Motorway Archive - M5 Widening, junctions 3 to 8
4. Sky News - UK's Longest Contraflow
5. BBC News - 'Most complex' contraflow
6. Western Daily Press - West beware! It's Britain's biggest road contraflow
7. Road Traffic Technology - RedSpeed International Take On Europe's Largest Contraflow
8. {{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7940865.stm|title=Night switch-off for M5 lighting|publisher=BBC News]
9. J11-J18: Driver Location Signs, M5 J18-11, M4 J22-15 (map) Highway Authority 2009
10. J19-J30: Driver Location Signs, M5 J19-30 (map) - Highway Authority, 2009
11. Northern end of M5 (interchange with M6)
12. Frankley Services (between J3 and J4)
13. J4a - Start of M42

Sources

• Charlesworth, George (1984). A History of British Motorways. London: Thomas Telford Ltd. ISBN 0-7277-0159-2.

External links

• Central Motorway Police Group
• CBRD Motorway Database - M5
• CBRD videos - M5
• Major roads of Great Britain - M5
• The Motorway Archive
  • Junctions 1 to 2 and other Midlands motorways
  • Junctions 3 to 8
  • Junctions 3 to 8 widening
  • Junctions 8 to 22
  • Junctions 22 to 31