Skip to main content

Spaghetti Junction reaches 40 year landmark

The famous Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham, central England marks its 40th birthday this week. A firm divider of opinion among the millions of motorists that use it each year, its sprawling concrete arteries at junction six of the M6 connect the A38(M) Aston Expressway into central Birmingham. Officially opened on 24 May 1972, the Gravelly Hill Interchange – Spaghetti Junction’s official name - took four years to build and cost between £9m and £10m. It was subsequently dubbed Spaghetti Junction by newspap
May 21, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The famous Spaghetti Junction in Birmingham, central England marks its 40th birthday this week.

A firm divider of opinion among the millions of motorists that use it each year, its sprawling concrete arteries at junction six of the M6 connect the A38(M) Aston Expressway into central Birmingham.

Officially opened on 24 May 1972, the Gravelly Hill Interchange – Spaghetti Junction’s official name - took four years to build and cost between £9m and £10m.

It was subsequently dubbed Spaghetti Junction by newspaper reporter, Roy Smith, when he worked on the Birmingham Mail.

Perplexing some motorists, its numerous carriageways, supported by more than 500 concrete columns, follow the line of the local canal and river network on elevated sections.

Motorists voted it the best-known sight seen from UK motorways in an 3443 RAC survey in 2007.

In March this year, visitors to Spaghetti Junction were given the chance to be pushed underneath the interchange as part of an art project.

As part of the two-day Track exhibition created by artist Graeme Miller, people got to on boards and be pushed sideways along a 100m track to see the underside of the Junction’s five different levels of roads above.

After its official opening 40 years ago, coach operators ran sightseeing tours at 65p a head.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • UK’s M6 tolled motorway for sale
    June 21, 2016
    For sale: one UK toll motorway along with operating business. Well maintained. Price negotiable. David Arminas looks at what is on offer As if right on cue, a French articulated truck starts to back up along the hard shoulder at an exit area of M6toll. The manoeuvring is watched from an office inside the nearby M6toll headquarters. Inside, Andy Pearson, chief executive of M6toll, glances over his shoulder and interrupts his presentation to World Highways. “He’s probably missed the dedicated wide-load
  • VIDEO: UK overnight bridge demolition job
    May 16, 2016
    A spectacular video shows footage a key bridge demolition job in the UK. The bridge crossing the busy A38 near Plymouth was demolished during a weekend possession on the 14th and 15th of May 2016. The footage has been released by 8100 Highways England and shows the old Merafield Bridge at Plympton being demolished overnight on Saturday 14th May, marking the final stage of a £6.3 million maintenance project on the A38.
  • Solving congestion in Brisbane
    August 2, 2012
    Rapid growth in a major Australian city in recent years has created new problems for the infrastructure and especially transport Expansion in the city of Brisbane, the Queensland state capital and the third largest city in the country, is set to continue and some 1,500 people arrive/week from within Australia and from other parts of the world. At this rate by 2026 the city's population should increase by 1.4 million: at present it is 1.8 million. To cope, the Queensland government and city council have ini
  • Upgrades to start on Bromsgrove A38 corridor
    August 14, 2023
    UK government commits €50 million for work on the 6.5km stretch of the A38 in England.