The A500 is a major

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works ...

A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

, England. It is

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

for most of its length and connects

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

, junctions 16 and 15 of the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

with the city of

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

. It is long. The road was built to provide links between Stoke-on-Trent and the M6, before being extended to Nantwich. Construction has taken place over several stages, beginning in 1962, with the final section of the original route being completed similar to the original plans in 2006. As a trunk road, the section between junction 15 and 16 of the M6 is maintained by the Highways Agency whilst the section past junction 16 is maintained by

Cheshire East Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council. Towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach, Wilmslow, H ...

council. In 2004, the road was stated as carrying 60,000 vehicles a day through Stoke. It is known locally as the "D-Road" or "Potteries D-Road", after its configuration. The originally planned route of the road joins junctions 15 and 16 of the M6 in a 'D' shape, and was represented in the logo used by the Corportion of Stoke when promoting the road. D is also the

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

representing the number 500, the number assigned to the completed road.

History

By the 1960s, traffic congestion was a major problem in

, and journeys across the area sometimes took hours. There was no connection from the newly constructed M6 to the city. Businesses in the area wanted an easier route to get their goods out of the area. As early as 1961 the route of the road scheme – already known as the "Potteries D Road" – was included in the Staffordshire Development Plan for planning purposes. The A500 was initially built from the M6 at junction 16 to the A34 road at

Talke Talke is a village in Staffordshire, England, northwest of Newcastle-under-Lyme and southwest of Kidsgrove. Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Kidsgrove. Etymology Its unusual name is derived from the even more un ...

as part of the motorway construction, opening in 1962. At the southern end, a dual carriageway was constructed from junction 15 of the M6 to the A34 near Trentham, given the number A5006, and opened at the same time. The northern section of the road was then subsequently extended from Talke to the A53 road. The final section from the A34 in the south to the A53 junction was built between 1974 and 1977. The two middle junctions were to be

grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

, but due to financial constraints they were built as

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...

s. Construction involved the destruction of streets and businesses within Stoke's town centre, as well as the excavation of a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

of the victims of a 17th-century

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

. This final section was named Queensway, and on its completion the whole route became the A500. A500 near Audley - geograph

The route remained unchanged until the 1980s when the Hanford Roundabout junction had a flyover built, as this was a major

bottleneck Bottleneck literally refers to the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle near its opening, which limit the rate of outflow, and may describe any object of a similar shape. The literal neck of a bottle was originally used to play what is now known as ...

for both the A500 and A34. The 1977 section east of this junction had been built with provision for the bridge, but the section built as the A5006 required realignment for the new interchange. In the late 1980s the road was extended from Junction 16 close to

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

with connections provided to existing roads to Keele and

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

. The A52, which at that time ran to Nantwich, was renumbered from Newcastle to Weston as a B road and the section from Weston to Nantwich was incorporated into the A500. In 1989 a bypass to the east of Nantwich was opened, extending the A500 from the south of Nantwich to its current northerly terminus with the A51. In 1993 a proposal was made to add the missing flyover and underpass close to Stoke-on-Trent railway station, after an alternative plan had been rejected because of its cost. A full review of the national roads programme resulted in the suspension of that scheme however. In 1997 the A50 was rerouted through Stoke-on-Trent to meet the A500 at Sideway, where a new grade separated roundabout was constructed. City Road Roundabout - geograph

On the approach to Hough was a narrow single lane bridge which was added to with a

Bailey bridge A Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed in 1940–1941 by the British for military use during the Second World War and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and American military engineering units ...

in 1993. In September 2003, the Shavington bypass opened to reroute the road away from three villages on the former A52 section. This was built to dual carriageway standards with provision for further junctions to new development sites. Traffic continued to rise to the point where major congestion was experienced on the central section. Work began on 16 February 2004 on the A500 Pathfinder Project to replace the final two roundabouts in Stoke with underpasses. The Highways Agency defined the pathfinder project as involving "a new form of contract and co-operative working methods to deliver a better value project, faster." The project involved alterations to the path of the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of M ...

and

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

, along with new provisions for pedestrians. The work was carried out by Edmund Nuttall Limited and was planned to be completed in spring 2006. Following a number of delays for which it was rumoured the construction company was being fined up to £100,000 a day for not keeping to schedule, the road opened on Tuesday 26 September 2006, with the southbound traffic in the morning and northbound traffic in the afternoon. Several months of additional work was needed to finalise traffic light operations, gardens, and other miscellaneous tasks. In February 2009, it was announced that the single carriageway Nantwich bypass would be re-numbered as the A51 in a bid to relieve the town centre of traffic. In 2015, the final 500m of the eastbound single carriageway between Weston and Junction 16 of the M6 was upgraded. This included resignalling works on the roundabout in order to relieve congestion at the roundabout.

Route

The road is the primary access route for traffic to and from almost all areas of Stoke-on-Trent. Starting to the east of Nantwich on the Nantwich bypass the dual carriageway Shavington bypass running north of Hough and Shavington. Returning to the 1980s single carriageway extension route it continues east through a

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

to the M6 at Junction 16 where it becomes a dual carriageway. Continuing through open countryside it passes under the A34 at

Talke Pits Talke Pits is a former mining village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, close to the Cheshire border and the village of Talke.Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Kidsgrove Kidsgrove i ...

, turns south before meeting the Tunstall Western Bypass and enters the north of Stoke-on-Trent. Now continuing in an urban setting it runs between Newcastle and Burslem, passing through the middle of the former Wolstanton Colliery before running east of Stoke's town centre. Passing through the newest section in a cutting it emerges south of Stoke alongside the site of the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. Turning west it passes the Bet365 Stadium before leaving the urban area at Hanford, south of

Trent Vale Trent Vale is a village located on the western outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent in England. It is bordered on the south by Hanford, and both villages are separated by the A500. To the west is Clayton, whilst the north is Newcastle-under-Lyme. The ...

. It then runs through a cutting before meeting the M6 at junction 15.

Junctions

{, class=wikitable , - align="center" bgcolor=#00703c style="color: #ffd200;font-size:120%;" , colspan="4" , A500 Road , - !scope="col", Northbound exits !scope="col", Junction !scope="col", Southbound exits !scope="col", Coordinates , - align="center" , Nantwich, Stone A51
UK traffic sign 520

, Cheerbrook
Roundabout
UK traffic sign 510

, ''Start of road'' , , - align="center" , Crewe, Shavington B5071 , , Crewe, Shavington B5071 , , - align="center" , Crewe Employment Park A5020 ,
UK traffic sign 510

, Crewe Employment Park A5020 , , - align="center" , Start of dual carriageway , UK traffic sign 510

, Crewe, Weston A5020
Keele A531
End of dual carriageway
UK traffic sign 520

, , - align="center" , The North West, Preston M6
The South, Birmingham M6
Radway Green B5078
End of dual carriageway
UK traffic sign 520

, M6 J16
UK traffic sign 510

, Start of dual carriageway , , - align="center" , Audley,

Alsager Alsager ( ) is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located to the north-west of Stoke-on-Trent and east of Crewe. The town's population was 13,389 at the 2021 census. ''The Mere'' is a ...

, , Audley, Alsager , , - align="center" ,

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Topon ...

A34 , , Newcastle-under-Lyme
Talke,

Kidsgrove Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 26,276 (2019 census) ...

, Congleton A34 , , - align="center" , Kidsgrove A527 ( A50) , , Tunstall A527 , , - align="center" ,

Wolstanton Wolstanton is a suburban town on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. History The Roman road the Rykeneld Street passed through Wolstanton. Wolstanton is mentioned in the Norman Domesday book where it is listed amongst the lan ...

A527
Longport, Tunstall,

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. ...

A5271 , , Wolstanton A527
Longport, Tunstall, Burslem A5271 , , - align="center" , Wolstanton Retail Park , , Wolstanton Retail Park , , - align="center" , Newcastle-under-Lyme

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of '' Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus '' Al ...

A53 , , Newcastle-under-Lyme
Hanley, Leek A53 , , - align="center" , Shelton B5045 , Shelton New Road Junction , No exit , , - align="center" , No exit , Stoke Road Junction , Hanley A5006
Stoke A52
Fenton, Longton A5007 , , - align="center" , Hanley A5006
Stoke A52
Fenton, Longton A5007 , City Road Junction , No exit , , - align="center" , No exit , ,

Heron Cross Heron Cross is a suburb situated between Blurton Blurton is a district in the south of Stoke on Trent, in the English county of Staffordshire. Hollybush, Old Blurton, Blurton Farm and Newstead are the names of the areas in which make up th ...

, , - align="center" , Longton,

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

A50 , , Uttoxeter, Derby A50

Sideway Sideway (pronounced "Siddaway") is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, approximately one mile south west of Stoke-upon-Trent, Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. It is located on the junction of the A500 and the A50 adjacent to the Bet365 Stadiu ...

, , - align="center" , Sideway , , No exit , , - align="center" , Stone, Trentham

, Newcastle-under-Lyme A34 , Hanford Roundabout , Stone, Trentham
Trent Vale, Newcastle-under-Lyme A34 , , - align="center" , Start of road , M6 J15
UK traffic sign 510

, The North West, Preston
The South, Birmingham M6

Eccleshall Eccleshall is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. His ...

Newcastle-Under-Lyme A519 ,

References

External links

SABRE Roaders Digest – A500Highways Agency – Pathfinder Project Schemea500.co.uk – Contractor's Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:5-0500 Roads in England Roads in Cheshire Transport in Staffordshire Transport in Stoke-on-Trent