Featherstone Interchange
Featherstone Interchange | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Location | |||
Featherstone | |||
County | |||
Staffordshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
National Highways | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout Interchange | |||
Roads Joined | |||
M54, A460 | |||
Junctions related to the A460 | |||
Featherstone Interchange is junction 1 of the M54, and is located to the north of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire.
It opened in 1983, and forms part of the shortest distance between three junctions on separate motorways. Along A460, Featherstone Interchange on M54, Laney Green Interchange on M6 and Wedges Mills Interchange on M6 Toll are around two miles apart in total.
It is often thought to be strangely signed westbound, as exits along M54 state "Cannock A460", with no mention of Wolverhampton. The only way of accessing the westbound carriageway of M54 at this point is by leaving the M6 at junction 10A and in order to reach Cannock from this interchange, traffic must recross the M6 at junction 11. This may be in order to encourage traffic to use junction 2 in order to access Wolverhampton city centre, as the relevant section of A449 is of a much higher quality than that of A460.
History
Whilst the junction layout is unchanged from its opening, the dual carriageway section of A460 immediately to the south also opened at the same time, and the earlier road ran just to the west of the present route. There is, therefore, some abandoned sections where the surface is intact but inaccessible to all traffic with the exception of pedestrians and cyclists.
A bypass for the section of A460 to the north of the junction has been proposed as part of the M54 - M6 Toll Link Road (which may or may not hold motorway status), and the junction is designed to allow for this to connect in the northeast quadrant of the roundabout. However, the current proposed plan involves a complete redesign of the junction to allow a free flow connection to the new road.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Telford | ||
Birmingham (M6) | ||
M6 N (M6 Toll), Cannock | ||
Wolverhampton | ||
The SOUTH, Stafford (M6), Cannock |