M42 Junction 1

In the early 1980s our section at the bottom of Old Birmingham Road (B4096) started to be built. The majority of photos below belong to Charlie Bateman and we are grateful to him for letting us publish his photos.

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. 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.  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 theA444 at Measham opened in 1986.In 1987, the section to the A38 at Bromsgrove 15 miles (24 km) south of Birmingham was completed and then in December 1989, the motorway was completed with the opening of the link from the M5.

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 near Nottingham. 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.