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The A500 is a major road in Staffordshire and Cheshire, England. It is dual carriageway for most of its length and connects junctions 15 and 16 of the M6 motorway with the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Because of its shape, it is known locally as the D-Road.
Route
The road is the primary access route for traffic to and from almost all areas of Stoke-on-Trent. In addition to the M6 it has connections with:
- The A34 at Trentham, and again near Talke
- The A50 at Sideway for Derby and M1 traffic
- The administrative centre (Stoke)
- Roads to the commercial centre (Hanley)
- Longbridge Hayes industrial estate at Longport
- The A527 to Tunstall
Beyond junction 16, the A500 becomes single carriageway, and has a spur with the A5020 to Crewe. It is then dual carriageway again on the Shavington by-pass (opened 2003) before it terminates at Nantwich.
Improvements
Improvements to the adjoining A50 in 1997 led to a large increase in traffic using the Stoke section of the road - in some sections it carries 60,000 vehicles per day. A particular problem is that all junctions are grade separated apart from two in the centre of Stoke, because the original builders apparently ran out of money.
Work began on February 16, 2004 on the Pathfinder Project, which would convert the Stoke Road and City Road roundabouts into grade separated junctions with flyovers. The project involved alterations to the path of the Trent and Mersey Canal and River Trent, along with new provisions for pedestrians. The work is being carried out by Edmund Nuttall Limited and should be completed in Spring 2006.
Links
UK Highways Agency – Pathfinder Project home page (http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/a_roads/a500/stoke/) – contains plans, planning applications, and other information
Multimap map of the area (http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=390000.225169496&Y=345000.855363415&width=700&height=400&gride=387897.225169496&gridn=345211.855363415&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=freegaz&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&zm=0&out.x=8&out.y=10&scale=100000)
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