The Gravelly Hill Interchange, popularly known as Spaghetti Junction, is a road junction in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, England. It is

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

6 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 ...

where it meets the

A38(M) Aston Expressway The A38(M), commonly known as the Aston Expressway, is a motorway in Birmingham, England. It is long and was opened on 24 May 1972.Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham. The interchange was opened on 24 May 1972.

Background

The asymmetrical junction provides access to and from the A38 (Tyburn Road), A38(M) (

Aston Expressway The A38(M), commonly known as the Aston Expressway, is a motorway in Birmingham, England. It is long and was opened on 24 May 1972.A5127 A51 may refer to: * Area 51, the nickname for a military base in Nevada that is the subject of many conspiracy theories * A51 Terrain Park (Colorado), a terrain park in Keystone, Colorado * A51 road (England), a road connecting Kingsbury and Cheste ...

(Lichfield Road/Gravelly Hill), and several unclassified local roads. It covers , serves 18 routes and includes of slip roads, but only of the M6 itself. Across five different levels, it has 559 concrete columns, reaching up to . The engineers had to elevate of motorway to accommodate two railway lines, three canals and two rivers. In 1958, the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ...

commissioned the engineering firm Sir Owen Williams & Partners to investigate possible routes to connect the M6, the A38(M) and the A38 trunk road. The interchange's colloquial name, "Spaghetti Junction", was coined in 1965 by journalists from the ''

Birmingham Evening Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire a ...

''. On 1 June 1965, reporter Roy Smith described plans for the then unbuilt junction as a "cross between a plate of spaghetti and an unsuccessful attempt at a Staffordshire knot" and sub-editor Alan Eaglesfield headlined the article "Spaghetti Junction". The name would later be given to other complex road junctions around the world. The student magazine of

Birmingham City University , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843—Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

, ''Spaghetti Junction'', took its name from the interchange's nickname, before being rebranded as ''Polygon''.

Construction

The development of the interchange was approved and announced in August 1968 by the then

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, Richard Marsh. Construction was expected to take three years and to cost £8m. The work was led by chief engineer Roy Foot. There were a number of objections and protests over the interchange, particularly a campaign to "save our fish" to relocate a quarter of a million fish from a pool that would be removed as part of the engineering work. One stipulation in construction was that the canal

towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport w ...

s running underneath the junction need to have sufficient clearance to allow horses. Work was mostly complete by May 1970, and attracted attention of local residents. By the following September, several motorists were found to have been driving illegally along it, and children had found it a useful shortcut to school. In early 1972, Viking Motors ran a return service from

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. Th ...

to the interchange for 65p return. West Midlands Police Helicopter - Night Time Photos - Gravelly Hill Interchange

The junction was opened on 24 May 1972 by the then

Secretary of State for the Environment The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment (DoE). This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of T ...

, Peter Walker. The opening was delayed by several months because of "box girder inspections". These followed the interim report of the Merrison Enquiry set up following the collapse of similar

box girder bridge A box girder bridge, or box section bridge, is a bridge in which the main beams comprise girders in the shape of a hollow box. The box girder normally comprises prestressed concrete, structural steel, or a composite of steel and ...

s in

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and

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Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...

saw the junction as a potential opportunity to attract visitors to the city, and proposed a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

involving the interchange. The junction has undergone major repair work several times since, owing to the very heavy traffic through the junction and, allegedly, cost-saving measures during its construction. In November 2007, a sliproad running from the Tyburn Road onto the Aston Expressway was closed to undergo urgent repair works. Upon inspection, it was found that Spaghetti Junction itself was in need of repair work because salt and grit had weakened the joints in the structure. By 2009, it was estimated that 1¼ billion vehicles had travelled through the junction, and although structural defects had been found, the overall structure was stable enough to continue carrying traffic. South-east of the junction, the M6 is on the elevated Bromford Viaduct – the longest viaduct in the UK.

Co-located junctions

Canal at Gravelly Hill Interchange - 2009-03-19

Underneath the motorway junction are the meeting points of local roads, the river

Tame Tame may refer to: *Taming, the act of training wild animals *River Tame, Greater Manchester *River Tame, West Midlands and the Tame Valley *Tame, Arauca, a Colombian town and municipality * "Tame" (song), a song by the Pixies from their 1989 alb ...

's confluences with the

River Rea The River Rea (pronounced "ray") is a small river which passes through Birmingham, England. It is the river on which Birmingham was founded by the Beorma tribe in the 7th century. Since 2012, TA Media had obtained the rights and access to t ...

and Hockley Brook, the Cross-City and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

lines and Salford Junction, where the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxfor ...

and Tame Valley Canal meet.

Cultural references

Gravelly Hill Interchange appears in the 1973

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

musical film ''

Take Me High ''Take Me High'' is a 1973 British feature film, directed by David Askey, written by Christopher Penfold and starring Cliff Richard in his final film role, with Deborah Watling, Hugh Griffith, George Cole and Anthony Andrews. Set and filmed ...

'', where he plays a banker living on a barge on Gas Street Basin.

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A lifel ...

called the junction "the eighth wonder of the world", because "you get on and wonder how to get off". The National Lottery-based show ''

Winning Lines ''Winning Lines'' is a National Lottery game show that was broadcast on BBC One from 12 June 1999 to 16 October 2004. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo and then by Phillip Schofield. Gameplay Round 1 Forty-nine contestants take part in t ...

'' featured a booby prize as a trip to Spaghetti Junction. In 2022, for the 50th anniversary of the opening of Spaghetti Junction,

Heinz The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the co ...

released a limited edition of their tinned spaghetti featuring the interchange on the tin.

References

External links