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Laney Green Interchange

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Laney Green Interchange
Location Map ( geo)
M6 Motorway - Approaching Junction 11 Slip Road - Geograph - 1522007.jpg
Cameraicon.png View gallery (12)
Location
Laney Green
County
Staffordshire
Highway Authority
National Highways
Junction Type
Roundabout Interchange
Roads Joined
M6, A460, A462
Junctions related to the A460
Junctions related to the A462

Laney Green Interchange is junction 11 of the M6, and is located between Wolverhampton and Cannock. It opened in March 1966, and for a period of six months formed the southern terminus of M6.

It is one of the most poorly signposted rural junctions on the motorway network. Northbound, the first signage is at 2/3 mile, due to the presence of Hilton Park services, whilst the first southbound signage was located at 1/3 mile, due to the presence of Junction 11A from the opening of the M6 Toll in 2003 until late 2015 when extra signage was installed.

It also forms part of the shortest distance between three junctions on separate motorways. Along A460, Featherstone Interchange on M54, Laney Green Interchange on M6 and Wedges Mills Interchange on M6 Toll are around two miles apart in total. There are plans in place to improve the link roads, junction and route between the motorways.

See Also: M54 to M6 Link

History

The site of Laney Green Interchange in 1956
Under construction on the 1965 OS One Inch map
And after opening on the 1969 OS One Inch map

Before the arrival of M6 in the area, the site of Laney Green Interchange was, as might be expected, the location of a junction between A460 and A462, although the junction layout is not what might be expected.

The A460 from Wolverhampton continued along the line of Mill Lane to the northwest of the junction, before meeting a T-junction at the location of the current 90 degree turn in Mill Lane. It then turned to the right at this junction, before meeting a further T-junction just inside the northeastern corner of the present roundabout, where the A460 turned northeast towards Cannock whilst the A462 commenced its southwards journey towards Willenhall. In 1957 the A460 was realigned which bypassed the Mill Lane T-junction[1].

The present junction was completed with the M6 in 1966 and remained in its original form until the opening of M6 Toll to the north in 2003, when the junction was remodelled with the offline upgrade of A460 to a dual carriageway, with the original line of the road being connected to the A462 to the south of the junction. At the same time, traffic lights were installed upon the roundabout.

Originally the junction was called Shareshill Interchange.

Unrealised plans

Initial proposal from the 1950s
Proposed junction layout with rejected M54 route
Alternative BNRR route in 1987
Rejected M54 to M6 Link options

There have been numerous proposals for this junction over the years starting from before the M6 was built and going right up to the present time. This section will attempt to detail the known plans.

The earliest proposal is from the 1950s with the M6 following a more westerly line north of Laney Green and the junction was to be a parclo. It was to be sited slightly to the west of its eventual location so the A462 wouldn't have made a direct connection to the junction.

The next proposals were made in the late 1960s, just a few years after the junction opened. One of the rejected more northerly route options for M54 would have brought that motorway on a more northerly alignment, and would have interchanged with M6 at Laney Green. This would have added a number of additional sliproads, including east-facing on A460 to the north east of the main junction complex. However, the layout would also have potentially brought a number of weaving issues with closely spaced entries both on M6 southbound, and on the roundabout circulatory carriageway. Another layout has additional roundabout to the north of the existing junction. These proposals lasted into the early 1970s but were overshadowed by the fact that the route of the M54 as built was already the preferred option in the original study despite not being built until the mid-1980s.

The 1980s saw the next set of proposals which would have altered the junction. In 1984 two options for the northern end of the Birmingham Northern Relief Road were proposed. One joining the M6 at Saredon Interchange and the other at Laney Green. The Saredon option was selected as the preferred route in 1986 and would have resulted in no changes being made at Laney Green as all the slip roads would have been to the north of the junction. Despite the selection of the more northerly route in 1986 detailed plans of the alternative more southerly route were produced a year later in 1987. This would have enlarged the roundabout so quad carriageways could pass beneath. The existing M6 would now be two northbound carriageways and the southbound carriageways would along the eastern side of these. The preferred route was modified in 1988 so the connections between the BNRR, M6 and M54 would have formed a triangle completely surrounding Laney Green. After this the BNRR scheme proceeded as a privately financed toll road and opened in 2003 with the changes made to the junction as described earlier on this page.

In the early 2000s the M54 to M6 link was announced which would relieve the A460 between the two motorways. Two options were proposed to increase the capacity of J11. One was to move the northbound exit slip so it joins the roundabout at the northwest corner. This would remove one of the conflict points as most of the traffic on this slip road is heading to the A460 north. The other proposal was for the link road to continue to the Junction T8 roundabout with freeflowing links to the M6 and M6 Toll. This would allow a significant amount of traffic to avoid the J11 roundabout completely. This section of the road required funding from outside sources which wasn't forthcoming and was therefore removed from the scheme in 2018.

The current proposal from 2019 will rebuild the J11 roundabout as a larger squareabout and increase the number of lanes on the circular carriageway.

Routes

Route To Notes

M6

The NORTH WEST, Stafford

M6

The SOUTH, Birmingham

A460

Wolverhampton, (M54) Telford

A460

The SOUTH, Burntwood, M6 Toll, Cannock (A4601)

A462

Willenhall, Walsall (B4210)

References

  1. Roads in England and Wales 1956-57 - Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (1958) page: 61



Laney Green Interchange
Projects
Related Pictures
View gallery (12)
Laney Green with M54.pngFeatherstone 2007 Option A.pngFeatherstone 2007 Option B.pngM54 to M6 Link 2020 Final Scheme.pngLaney Green Interchange M54 M6 Link 2007.png
Other nearby junctions
Wolverhampton
Anson Junction • Battlefield Roundabout (Wolverhampton) • Bentley Bridge Island • Bentley Interchange • Bentley Junction • Bilston Street Island • Bowmans Harbour Island • Broad Street Junction • Bull Ring (Sedgley) • Bull Ring (Willenhall) • Bull Stake • Bushbury Island • Chapel Ash Island • Coseley Road Island • Coven Heath Interchange • Coven Roundabouts • Elephant and Castle (Wolverhampton) • Essington Interchange • Featherstone Interchange • Fighting Cocks • Five Ways (Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton) • Five Ways (Merry Hill, Wolverhampton) • Five Ways (Wolverhampton City Centre) • Five Ways (Wolverhampton) • Fordhouses Roundabout • Four Ashes Junction • Fox Crossroads • Gailey Interchange • Gailey Island • Goodyear Island • Horseley Fields Junction • Keyway Junction • Leicester Square (Wolverhampton) • Lloyd Hill Roundabout • Merrills Hall Island • Midland Counties Dairy • Moxley Junction • Neachells Lane Island • New Cross Junction • New Invention Island • Oxford Street Island • Penn Road Island • Pickmere Roundabout • Portobello Island • Princes Square • Queen Square (Wolverhampton) • Saredon Interchange • Short Heath Interchange • Snow Hill Junction (Wolverhampton) • Spring Vale Island • St Peters Square • Stafford Place • Stafford Street Junction • Standeford Crossroads • The Dale • The Lunt Junction • Scotlands Island • Three Tuns Junction • Tong Interchange • Victoria Square • Vine Island Junction • Vulcan Road Island • Waterloo Road Junction • Western Way Interchange • Wood End Island
Cannock
Junctions on the M6
PresentM1 J19 Catthorpe • 1 Junction 1 • 2 Ansty • 3 Exhall • 3A/4 Coleshill • 4A Water Orton • 5 Castle Bromwich • 6 Gravelly Hill • 7 Great Barr • 8 Ray Hall • 9 Wednesbury • 10 Bentley • 10A Essington • 11 Laney Green • 11A Saredon • 12 Gailey • 13 Dunston • 14 Creswell • 15 Hanchurch • 16 Barthomley • 17 Sandbach • 18 Middlewich • 19 Tabley • 20 Lymm • 21 Woolston • 21A Croft • 22 Winwick • 23 Haydock Island • 24 Junction 24 • 25 Bryn • 26 Orrell • 27 Junction 27 • 28 Leyland • 29 Bamber Bridge • 30 Blacow Bridge • 31 Samlesbury • 31A Haighton • 32 Broughton • 33 Hampson Green • 34 Lune Valley • 35 Carnforth • 36 Crooklands • 37 Killington • 38 Tebay • 39 Shap • 40 Skirsgill • 41 Catterlen • 42 Golden Fleece • 43 Rosehill • 44 Kingstown • 45 Guards Mill
Former32A Broughton Roundabout • 35A Keer Level Roundabout
Unbuilt"6A" Perry Barr • "10A" Short Heath • "14A" M6 "Expressway" • "14A" M64 • "15A" M6 "Expressway" • "16A" M6 "Expressway" • "27A" Euxton • "33A" "Junction 33A"
Unenacted Extension to Glasgow"46" Gretna • "47" Kirkpatrick Fleming • "48" Eaglesfield • "49" Ecclefechan • "50" Lockerbie South • "51" Lockerbie North • "52" Johnstonebridge • "53" Beattock • "54" Elvanfoot & Crawford • "55" Abington • "56" Millbank • "57" Poniel • "58" Wellburn • "59" M74 Junction 9 • "60" Canderside Toll • "61" Larkhall • "62" Hamilton • "63" Raith • "64" Maryville • "65" Daldowie • "66" Carmyle Avenue • "67" Fullarton Road • "68" Cambuslang Road • "69" Polmadie Road • "70" Kingston
M6 TollColeshill • T1 Dunton • T2 Junction T2 • T3 Langley Mill • T4 Weeford • T5 Wall Island • T6 Brownhills  • T7 Churchbridge • T8 Wedges Mills • 11A Saredon
Junctions on the M54
As builtM6 (10A) Essington  • 1 Featherstone  • 2 Coven Heath (Fordhouses Roundabout) • 3 Tong  • 4 Castle Farm  • 5 Priorslee  • 5 Forge  • 6 Ketley Dingle  • 7 Cluddley
Northern routeM6 (J11) Laney Green • Gailey • Pickmere • Crackleybank


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