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Factfile - Images - Timeline - Exit List
The M50 is a very old motorway, dating back to 1960. It's a quiet drive and it's arguably undeserving of its rather important sounding number. It does form quite an important link though, providing fast access between South Wales and the Midlands along with the A40 and A449.
The number isn't the only delusion of grandeur held by the M50 though. It was almost complete before the M5 in the area was even under construction. For several years, the M5 terminated on the M50, connecting to the A38 and points south via junction 1. The most probable reason it was built first is so that it would already be there when the M5 opened - had things been done the other way around, the M5 would have left South Wales traffic trudging through Tewkesbury or Gloucester.
But let's not mock the M50 too much. Even today it's fairly quiet, and virtually unchanged, so this is the best chance to see a motorway as it appeared in the early sixties, with no hard shoulders through bridges and nail-bitingly tight junctions (the only additions since 1961 have been some changeable matrix signs and crash barriers down the central reservation). It's also widely agreed to be one of the most scenic motorways there are.
Factfile
| Start | Strensham (M5) |
| Finish | Ross-on-Wye (A449) |
| Passes | None |
| Length | 21 miles |
| Terminates | None |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | None |
Images
Views of the M50 from on and off the road. If you have a photo to contribute, contact me.
The M50 is almost claustrophobic - the hard shoulder looks too narrow, and it vanishes through every bridge. Across the Severn Bridge not only is there no hard shoulder, but only one lane is full width.
Photo by Steven Jukes
There's some nice bridges on the route - a brick built archway over a motorway here. Note the vanishing hard shoulder on the left.
Photo by Steven Jukes
Construction Timeline
When the various parts of the M50 were built, listed in chronological order.
| Open | Jct | Section |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | J1-4 | Brokeridge Common - Ross on Wye |
| 1962 | M5-J1 | Strensham - Brokeridge Common |
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
| Junction | Eastbound | Westbound | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (M5 J8) | The MIDLANDS Worcester Birmingham M5  |
M5 |
EAST |
M5 |
N/A   |
|||||
| The SOUTH WEST Gloucester M5   |
||||||||||
1 mile, 2 lanes  |
 1 mile, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
| 1 | Tewkesbury Evesham A38   |
A38 |  |
A38 | Tewkesbury Great Malvern A38  |
|||||
| 9 miles, 2 lanes |
||||||||||
 Severn |
 |
Severn |
||||||||
| 9 miles, 2 lanes |
||||||||||
| 2 | Ledbury Great Malvern A417 |
A417 |
 |
A417 | Ledbury Hereford A417 |
|||||
| 7 miles, 2 lanes |
7 miles, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
| 3 | Newent Gorsley B4421 |
B4421 |  |
B4421 |
Newent Gorsley B4221 |
|||||
| 4 miles, 2 lanes |
4 miles, 2 lanes |
|||||||||
| 4 | N/A |
A449 |
 A449 (A40) WEST |
SOUTH WALES Monmouth A449 (A40) |
||||||
| Ledbury A449   |
