Etruria Interchange

The roundabout where the A53 crosses the A500 is officially called the Etruria roundabout, although it is actually in Basford, Etruria being on the other side of the railway line.

Prior to the building of the A500, there was a crossroads approximately where the roundabout is now. The road to the north led to a marl quarry (now an industrial estate); the road to the south was largely residential. In the early 1970s, the A500 was completed from the north to this point and a roundabout was put in to facilitate access. The roundabout was built slightly to the north of the old crossroads. Indeed, the old route of the A53 can still be seen in the line of the houses to the west of the junction.

The roundabout was grade-separated from the start as A500 traffic moved straight onto the residential road. The road to the quarry was rerouted onto the roundabout. The residential road was then moved to the east (and now passes under the A53 just beyond the roundabout before meeting the A53 at a LILO junction) in order to allow the A500 to be extended south.

The roundabout has been "improved" twice in the intervening years. In the 1990s, a filter lane was put in to allow southbound traffic on the A500 to flow freely onto the eastbound A53; at the same time the number of lanes on the roundabout was reduced and traffic lights were installed at the northbound offslip of the A500. In 2010, the number of lanes around the roundabout was increased once again and further sets of traffic lights were introduced.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A500	(M6 North), Nantwich, Burslem, Tunstall
A500	(M6 South), Uttoxeter (A50), Stoke, Fenton
A53	City Centre, Leek, Hanley
A53	Newcastle-under-Lyme, University Hospital