The A38 is probably a southwest-to-north road, and therefore begins at the A30 at Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. It then follows the M5, from Exeter renumbered the B3181 until it becomes the A38 again at the A361 junction near Tiverton. It then stays as the A38 for the rest of the length. It parts company with the M5 around Droitwich, up through Birmingham as the A38(M) Aston Expressway, then hits the M6 at junction 6, the famous 1972 work of art colloqually known as Spaghetti Junction. Then it starts getting good. From here it is a groovy sixties looking concrete dual carriageway up to Burton on Trent and then Derby. In Derby (where it once ended) it absorbs the A61 and continues up to the M1 at jcn 28. On the other side of the M1, it progresses a few miles more into Mansfield, where it ends.
Once upon a time, this was a vital link from the north of England to the Midlands to the South West. It connected Mansfield, Derby, Burton, Lichfield, Birmingham, Droitwich, Worcester, Bristol and all points to Plymouth. Since the coming of the A42/M42, which links the M1 with the M6 and M5 and orbits Birmingham, the A38 has lost much of its former glory. The DOT have put up a whole load of new signs, which encourage use of the M42 and M5, and discourage use of the A38. For this reason alone, those in the know appreciate the A38 much more now. There is less traffic, most of it local, and if you can handle the sudden bends and bridges, the A38 is a fab link to the south west (and mid Wales if you pick up the A5 around Brownhills). But don't let the DOT hear you say it.
a) It is one of the routes meeting at Spaghetti Junction (Jcn 6 M6)
b) There is a bit of road linking the A5 to the A38, about a mile long, all dual carriageway, known as the A5117.
c) Urban motorway (always exciting) the A38(M) through Birmingham. Pretty cool.
d) Nicely skirts Dartmoor between Exeter and Plymouth. Good scenery.
e) That lovely bridge (Saltash?) in Plymouth.
As (b) above. This bit of road is to form a triangle between the A38 going to Sutton Coldfield and the A5 from Brownhills. This fabbo bit of dual is very untidy, as was quite obviously once meant to have had a flyover built over the roundabout below. This was never built, although the embankment is there, so one is diverted off the carriageway down to the A5/A5127 junction. In the opposite direction (joining the A5117 from the A5 say) there is an ancient one way sign and a No Stopping sign, underneath it says something heavy like 66 miles. It is only at this point that you are told you are on the A5117 bracketed A38.
a) The A5127 Lichfield to Sutton Coldfield to Brum is part of the original A38. The present A38 absorbs some of the A446 from Lichfield to the A453 junction, then a nice new bypass takes over down to the A38(M).
b) Through Burton on Trent, the A5121 is the original A38.
c) Projected (anybody?)
You can get almost anywhere from the A38. If you want to get to the south west, there is a good connection to the M5. If you want mid and north Wales, you can take the A5 from Brownhills. Watch out for the stretch of the A5 between the A38 and the A34 in Cannock. Where those signs say 40MPH, they mean 40. There are many speed traps down there, and rightly so, as residential areas and schools line the road. Patience my friends, patience.
Everybody should love the A38. My affection for this fantastic and very long bit of tarmac go back a long way. When I was a wee yucca, whenever we visited our family in South Wales, this was the route of choice for my old man. It was great. However, my old man preferred not to turn off at the A38 Sutton Coldfield junction, preferring to take the A452 round Walsall. The bit of dual that goes from here to the A5 roundabout (where there once appear to have been plans for a meaty flyover, but sadly, everybody is chucked off the road in that naff uh-these-are-only-temporary-signs kind of way) is the bizarrely numbered A5117. Funky, it's only about a mile long.
However, once I got mobile, and I went visiting down there, I wanted to see the famous jcn 6 M6 (Spaghetti Junction) so I made a point of going thisaway. The magic roundabout is marvellous, and I only wished I could have seen it from above.
I am not too saddened by the way the M42 has taken over from the A38. If anything, it leaves this perfect stretch of concrete dual for the local traffic and the fun lovers like myself.