M42 motorway

M42
M42
	Looking south towards junction 6
Route information
	Part of E05
	Maintained by Highways England
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	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;

The M42 is a motorway in the Midlands of England. It runs northeast from the M5 near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire to near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. It runs south of the West Midlands conurbation, going through Solihull and Birmingham Airport. Here, it crosses the M6 motorway. It then goes past Coleshill and then past Tamworth, before ending. At the end of the motorway, just south of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, it becomes the A42.

The road was first built in the 1970s, and was built to make a motorway between the East and West Midlands. It is now also used as part of a ring road around Birmingham nicknamed the "Birmingham Box". It is made up of parts of the M5, M6, and M42 motorways.^[1]

Junctions[change | change source]

M42 motorway junctions
mile	km	Southbound exits (A carriageway)	Junction	Northbound 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′28″W / 52.348029°N 2.074571°W / 52.348029; -2.074571 (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 / 52.355618°N 2.045828°W / 52.355618; -2.045828 (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′43″N 1°56′56″W / 52.361843°N 1.948872°W / 52.361843; -1.948872 (M42, J2)
8.4	13.5	Entering Worcestershire	J3	Birmingham (S), Redditch, Evesham A435	52°21′18″N 1°53′09″W / 52.354897°N 1.885893°W / 52.354897; -1.885893 (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 / 52.348593°N 1.811435°W / 52.348593; -1.811435 (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 / 52.36288°N 1.80429°W / 52.36288; -1.80429
14.2 14.5	22.8 23.3	Shirley A34	J4	Shirley A34	52°22′47″N 1°47′11″W / 52.379699°N 1.786523°W / 52.379699; -1.786523 (M42, J4)
16.5 16.9	26.6 27.2	Solihull A41	J5	Solihull A41	52°24′19″N 1°45′00″W / 52.405142°N 1.750045°W / 52.405142; -1.750045 (M42, J5)
19.9 20.3	32.1 32.7	Birmingham (E), Birmingham International , Birmingham , N.E.C., Coventry A45	J6	Birmingham (E), Birmingham International , Birmingham , N.E.C. A45(W) Coventry (S & W), N.E.C. A45(E)	52°26′42″N 1°42′36″W / 52.445064°N 1.709898°W / 52.445064; -1.709898 (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 / 52.473776°N 1.711485°W / 52.473776; -1.711485 (M42, J7)
		Entering West Midlands		Entering Warwickshire	52°28′28″N 1°42′41″W / 52.47441°N 1.71139°W / 52.47441; -1.71139
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 / 52.481473°N 1.710262°W / 52.481473; -1.710262 (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 / 52.491195°N 1.715112°W / 52.491195; -1.715112 (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 / 52.509143°N 1.725497°W / 52.509143; -1.725497 (M42, J8)
		No access (on slip only)	J9	The NORTH WEST, Cannock, Lichfield M6 Toll	52°31′45″N 1°43′47″W / 52.529277°N 1.729617°W / 52.529277; -1.729617 (M42, J8A)
26.7	42.9	Start of variable speed limit		Kingsbury A4097, Lichfield A446	52°32′20″N 1°43′35″W / 52.538818°N 1.726313°W / 52.538818; -1.726313 (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 / 52.603334°N 1.641576°W / 52.603334; -1.641576 (M42, J10)
		Entering Warwickshire		Entering Leicestershire	52°40′19″N 1°33′40″W / 52.67201°N 1.56122°W / 52.67201; -1.56122
39.7	63.9	Start of motorway	J11 ^{[coord 4]}	Burton upon Trent, Measham A444	52°41′20″N 1°32′54″W / 52.688987°N 1.548450°W / 52.688987; -1.548450 (M42, J11)
40.0	64.4	Nuneaton A444 Non-motorway traffic	J11 ^{[coord 4]}	End of motorway Road continues as A42 towards East Midlands Airport	52°41′35″N 1°32′50″W / 52.692928°N 1.547098°W / 52.692928; -1.547098 (M42, J11)
Notes Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are taken from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction goes across 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