M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

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gepree68
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M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

Post by gepree68 »

2019-03-11 M5 M50 1970.png
On this 1970 map showing M5 J8 and M50, what is the extra bit of M5, south of the M5/M50 junction?

In 1969 or 1970 was an M5 extension built from M5 J8 to a temporary junction on A4080, providing a better route for people to get from M5 to A38?

Or is this just a map error?
Last edited by gepree68 on Fri Feb 17, 2023 15:45, edited 2 times in total.
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Chris Bertram
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Re: M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

Post by Chris Bertram »

gepree68 wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 12:02 2019-03-11 M5 M50 1970.png
On this 1970 map showing M5 J8 and M50, what is the extra bit of M5, south of the M5/M50 junction?

In 1969 or 1970 was an M5 extension built from M5 J8 to a temporary junction on A4080, providing a better route for people to get from M5 to A38?

Or is this just a map error?
If we're looking for a stretch of road that was open to traffic, it's an error. When M5 opened beyond J8, it was to J10, which had temporary full access slip roads to allow M5 traffic to rejoin A38 at Coombe Hill via A4019 and the reverse, so Tewkesbury was finally bypassed. J9 opened at the same time, of course. However, it's possible that construction had completed as far as shown, but there was never a temporary tie-in with B4080. What would have been the point? It would just have taken traffic into Tewkesbury via a different, inferior road.
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Re: M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

Post by Steven »

One forum down (SABRE Maps forum - "Discover"), OS Quarter Inch Annual Revisions thread. There's a whole discussion there about this.
Last edited by Steven on Mon Mar 11, 2019 13:50, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

Post by mapboy »

Looking at the other end of that section of the M5 on the same map layer, the feature is also present just north of J3 where the A458 passes over the motorway; to my knowledge this wasn't a temporary junction either.
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Re: M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

Post by Chris Bertram »

mapboy wrote: Mon Mar 11, 2019 12:56 Looking at the other end of that section of the M5 on the same map layer, the feature is also present just north of J3 where the A458 passes over the motorway; to my knowledge this wasn't a temporary junction either.
At that point M5 is in a trench, while A458 is built up pretty much to the motorway's edge on either side. Definitely never a junction there.
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Re: M5: In 1970 was there a temporary extension south of J8 (M50 junction)?

Post by mikehindsonevans »

Travelling from Somerset on the long run to Liverpool in the late 1960s (long before the Midland Links). we would joing the "Ross Spur" from the A38, head east for a mile or so then hang a left up the slip road of the half-opened GSJ at j8 south of Strensham Services (which was then in a different location which is now a maintenance depot after the services rebuild/relocate).

I reckon the map is in error - somebody probably ran the red ink south into the "two thin lines showing un-built/being built" section of the M5 running south from M5j8.

As posted up thread, there is a longer historical debate elsewhere.
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