M50 motorway (Great Britain)

UK motorway routebox
motorway= M50
length-mi= 21
length-km= 34
direction= East - West
start= Strensham
destinations= Ledbury
end= Ross-on-Wye
opening-date= 1960
completion-date= 1962
junctions=
misc=

:"For other uses, see M50 motorway."

The M50 is a motorway in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, England. It is 21 miles (34 km) long and is sometimes referred to as the "Ross Spur". It is the only motorway-class road in Herefordshire.

Route

The M50 runs in a south westerly/north easterly direction between the M5 motorway just north of Tewkesbury and the A40 road and A449 road at Ross-on-Wye. After leaving the M5 at junction 8 it passes north of Tewkesbury and then south of Ledbury. Between Junctions 1 & 2 it crosses the River Severn on the Queenhill Bridge, which also covers the associated flood plain. After passing north of Newent the motorway reaches its terminus at Junction 4.

History

The M50 was built by Tarmac Construction between 1958 and 1962 [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m50rossstat.htm The Motorway Archive - M50 dates page] ] :
*Junctions 1 to 4 opened in 1960.
*M5 to Junction 1 opened in 1962.

The route was part of a strategic route from The Midlands to South Wales and so was constructed as an early priority [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m50rossspur.htm The Motorway Archive - M50 Scheme Page] ] . It is one of the few British motorways not to have been widened, retaining its original layout of only two lanes in each direction.

In July 2007, the road was closed by flooding at Junction 2. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/image_galleries/flash_floods_gallery.shtml?10 M50 flooding: BBC photo] ]

Junctions

ervices

Although not served directly by motorway service areas the M50 is served by a service area at Strensham services operated by RoadChef just north of the M50's north eastern terminus junction with junction 8 of the M5. Also at the other end of the M50 on the A449 road near the junction 4 south western terminus of the M50 there was a service area operated by Welcome Break called Ross Spur services, however recently this has closed and only the southwest bound BP garage remains open [http://www.motorwayservices.info/area.php?area=113]

Descriptions

The junction with the M5 was originally a free-flowing trumpet-style junction [ [http://euclid.colorado.edu/~rmg/roads/m50.html Major Roads of Great Britain] Narrative description of the route] , but was converted to a roundabout when the M5 was widened in the 1990s [ [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m5widening.htm The Motorway Archive - M5 Widening] ] . Junction 1, where the M50 meets with the A38, is a Partial Cloverleaf. Junctions 2 and 3 have 90 degree turns from the deceleration lane into the slip roads which is hazardous for high-speed driving.

ee also

*List of motorways in the United Kingdom

References

External links

* [http://www.cbrd.co.uk/motorway/m50/ CBRD Motorway Database - M50]
* [http://www.iht.org/motorway/m50rossspur.htm Motorway Archive - M50]
* [http://pathetic.org.uk/current/m50/ Pathetic Motorways - M50]