Churchbridge

Churchbridge is a Magic Gyratory variant to the southeast of the former mining town of Cannock, Staffordshire. The present junction was built as part of the M6 Toll construction, and replaced a string of three roundabouts.

It is a combination of a three-roundabout Magic Gyratory, and a dumbbell, with one of the roundabouts being part of both junctions.

It is located at the junction of four major routes:

M6 Toll junction T7
A5 between Brownhills and M6 junction 12
A34 between Walsall and Stafford
A460 between Wolverhampton and Rugeley

It is slightly unusual in that the junction is managed by three different bodies:

National Highways manage the through route along A5 and so manage the three roundabouts directly along the A5 route, as well as the links between
Staffordshire Council manage the northernmost roundabout, and the links from this roundabout to the remainder of the junction
Midland Expressway manage the slip roads to and from M6 Toll

History

Cannock area in 1920, including Churchbridge

The junction was originally a relatively simple staggered junction between A5 and A34, though extra complexity was added by the presence of a railway line and a canal within the junction area. The canal and the associated Churchbridge Locks was filled in during the 1960s, though the railway line is still in use today.

During the 1980s, the Cannock Eastern Bypass was constructed, and the A460 was brought into the junction layout to the north, with the former route through Cannock Town Centre becoming A4601, and a multiplex with A5 through Bridgetown created. At this point, the junction was redesigned with three small roundabouts:

the eastern end of the junction serving A5 towards Brownhills and A34 towards Walsall
central serving A5 to the west and access to the other roundabouts
northern serving A34 towards Cannock and A460 towards Rugeley

This junction layout was known locally as "The Silly Isles", as the majority of traffic needed to pass through the central roundabout in the system, causing long traffic delays.

The layout was then altered to the present form in 2002-3, with the addition of M6 Toll and the A460 for traffic towards Wolverhampton. Whilst much improved over its previous form, there are still large tailbacks at busy times, but as there is no single dominant flow of traffic, any further improvements are unlikely to be easily attained.

In 2015 traffic signals were added to three of the roundabouts, some of the approaches were widened and the northernmost M6 Toll roundabout was converted into a teardrop; whilst in late 2018 work started on widening the links between the northern roundabout and the remainder of the junction to dual carriageway.

Original BNRR proposals

1987-1988 planned layout

Before the Birmingham Northern Relief Road was planned as a toll road the junction was to be a roundabout interchange with slip roads in both directions. The railway prevents one large centrally located roundabout with all the main roads feeding directly onto it so there are two smaller roundabouts in the same locations as what currently exists. The presence of the west facing slips means there is no need for the A460 running parallel to the motorway. It also means there is no space for a link between the main roundabout and the bottom left roundabout. With only three arms and filter lanes for two of the left turns this roundabout could well cope better with the demands that currently overwhelm it.

When it was decided to promote the scheme as a toll road the initial proposal from Midland Expressway retained the existing proposed junction and added toll booths to the west facing slips. The design soon changed and the westbound slips were omitted and replaced with the A460 running parallel to the M6 Toll towards M6 J11. Large roundabout interchanges tend to be unfavourable with toll roads due to the extra toll booths required and in the case of Churchbridge the predicted level of traffic using the west facing slips was thought to be low.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M6 Toll	The SOUTH, Burntwood
A5	Telford
A5	Brownhills
A34	Cannock town centre
A34	Walsall
A460	Wolverhampton
A460	Rugeley
A455	Walsall	now part of A34
A455	Cannock	now part of A34
M600	The SOUTH, Burntwood	administrative number for M6 Toll
A446(M)	The SOUTH, Burntwood	provisional number for M6 Toll