Kegworth Interchange
Kegworth Interchange | |||
Ariel view of the interchange | |||
| |||
Location | |||
north of Kegworth, Leicestershire and East Midlands Airport | |||
County | |||
Leicestershire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
National Highways | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout Interchange | |||
Roads Joined | |||
M1, A50, A453 | |||
Junctions related to the A453 | |||
A42 J14 • M64 (Trentham - Long Whatton) J2 • Finger Farm Roundabout • Bitterscote Roundabout • Perry Barr Interchange • Mile Oak Junction • Queens Drive Roundabout • Ratcliffe on Soar Junction • West Leake Junction • Crusader Island • Clifton Green • Silverdale Interchange • Mill Hill Roundabout (Nottingham) • Bassetts Pole • Perry Barr |
Kegworth Interchange, the M1's junction 24, is often described as the focal point of the East Midlands road system and with good reason. However, this also brings the inevitable congestion, so much so that two junctions - one to the north and one to the south - have been created to try to divert traffic away from the roundabout.
The reason this junction is so important is due to the routes that it carries. The M1 runs underneath, carrying all traffic heading north or south of here. The A50 carries traffic heading west towards Derby, Stoke and Manchester, and any traffic that has avoided the M6 debacle around Birmingham. The A453 carries traffic heading for East Midlands Airport and into Nottingham as well as meeting the A6 that carries traffic heading down towards Leicester.
Since the junction was created, more lanes have been added and better signage created because of the amount of roads exiting the roundabout. Expect queues on all approaches, particularly at peak times.
History
There has been a roundabout at the site of the Kegworth Interchange since the M1 in the area opened, however the early roundabout was a far better choice of junction than the present issues with the roundabout make it appear. When the M1 opened (first to the south in 1965, extended north the following year) there were only two exits from the roundabout, both of these being the A6. The A453 towards Nottingham (then numbered A648) exit was the first additional exit to be added and was in place by 1967. The roundabout was always designed with the A648 to Nottingham in mind, as well as the unbuilt M17 Castle Donnington Bypass, which would have joined the roundabout at the point where the A453 was added later.
The final arm of the roundabout to be added was the A453 (then numbered A5129) towards East Midlands Airport and, later the A42. This was opened as a single carriageway road in early September 1975, with the A648 and A5129 being renumbered as part of a diverted A453 in 1978.
The junction by this stage had reached its original intentions but later developments were to place a burden on the roundabout. The A42 was built in 1992 which joins the M1 just to the south of the junction. A few years later a southern bypass of Derby, (the current A50,) was planned and this would add more traffic to an already busy junction. In 1994 a complete replacement of the junction along with a new Junction 24A was proposed. This would provide freeflow movements between the M1-A42-A50-A453(N). The A50 was opened in 1997 and part of J24A was built shortly after, but the rest of the improvements were scrapped.
In 2007 another large scale improvement scheme was planned. This time only the A50 would get the freeflow movements. Junction 24 would remain as it is apart from the closure of the south facing slips. However in 2009 this scheme was also scrapped owing to the cost.
In 2014 a much smaller scheme was started which allows traffic from the A50 to reach the A453(S) by avoiding most of the roundabout. This was completed in February 2015. Traffic for the M1 South is also directed along here.
In summer 2015 the dualling of the A453 to Nottingham was completed but no further improvements to the junction were made. It remains the only unsignalised entry onto the roundabout.
In 2016 legislation was passed for larger scale improvements to the interchange resulting from permission being sought for construction of the East Midlands Gateway Rail Freight Interchange
In July 2018, the A50 -> A453(S) cut through (and the southbound A50 carriageway from Warren Lane to the Kegworth Interchange was closed, as the work at Warren Lane Junction to remove the roundabout and provide free-flow links for A50 e/b traffic was opened. In November 2018, the A6 was diverted to the south to bypass the village of Kegworth and meets the A453 at the East Midlands Gateway Strategic Rail Freight Interchange entrance.
Plans of the abandoned large scale schemes
Sources
[1] oldmaps.co.uk various dates & scales
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
The NORTH, Nottingham (North) | ||
London, Leicester | ||
Stoke, Derby, Lockington, C. Donington, Alton Towers | ||
Nottingham (South), Ratcliffe-on-Soar, East Midlands Parkway Station | ||
(A6), East Midlands Airport, Tamworth, Birmingham, Diseworth, Breedon on the Hill, Ashby de la Zouch, Donington | ||
Kegworth (A6) | ||
Stoke, Derby, Lockington, C. Donington, Alton Towers | now A50 | |
Nottingham (South), Ratcliffe-on-Soar | now A453 | |
Derby, Lockington, C. Donington | now A50 | |
Loughborough, Kegworth | ||
East Midlands Airport, Diseworth, Breedon on the Hill | now A453 | |
Castle Donnington, Ashby, Tamworth (A453) |
Links