M42 - A446 - A4097
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Ordnance Survey map - Alternative aerial view
Where is it?
M42 junction 9, the place where a Birmingham radial motorway meets the busy A446 and the busy A4097. It's a busy motorway junction.
What's wrong with it?
It's a basic, bog-standard roundabout interchange. The trouble is that several years ago, traffic levels here hit the roof, and the solution to this was to expand the roundabout itself to having four lanes all the way around (by comparison, the M42 underneath is only two). Four lanes is too many for a roundabout, and most people have little idea what's going on.
Why is it wrong?
The upgrade was a bad idea in the first place, and the execution lets it down too. The advance signing for the junction when exiting the M42 is somewhere between laughable and frightening. All the signs around the roundabout have been abbreviated for brevity, so first comes a legend: for Kingsbury follow "Kby", for Coventry follow "Cov", for Tamworth follow "Tam" and so on. This flies past before you have a chance to absorb it. There are then lane designation signs for the four sliproad lanes, some distance after those lanes have opened out. All use the three-letter abbreviations, and it's impossible not to have committed yourself to a lane by the time you reach them. The result of all this is that even frequent users haven't the faintest idea what's going on or which lane they should be in, and as a result the roundabout today is a chaotic frenzy of lane changing and near misses.
What would be better?
The construction of the nearby M6 Toll should remove some traffic from the A446, which might make it a bit more bearable. A better solution would be to remove the A4097 from the equation, having it cross the M42 seperately and have another junction elsewhere with the A446.
Images
Approaching the roundabout from the A446 to the north, there's plenty of directions to take in. This is the first sign of two - the second looks the same but has different directions.
Next comes the lane designation sign. Before the M6 Toll was opened, this was adorned with abbreviations ('Lfd', 'Kby' etc.). There was a key to the abbreviations on an additional sign placed just in front of it. Now it shows the full place names but is no less confusing.
All the way round, the circulatory carriageway is alarmingly split for small islands containing traffic lights. They aren't terribly well highlighted, and if you aren't expecting them they come as quite a shock.
Right to Reply
Email me with your comments.
David Marsden writes:
No one has jumped to the defence of this junction because there is no defence for it! It is a disastrous bodge - bad enough before the M6 Toll steamrollered through, indefinitely more terrifying now. And as for those abbreviations - I live reasonably locally and it was only through this website that I discovered that "K'by" stood for Kingsbury.
Allan Williams adds:
In recent weeks [October 2003] the signs at this crazy junction have changed, some of the old abbreviations: "COV" etc remain but references to Lichfield have gone and been replaced by Wishaw, a tiny village near the Belfry. This seems like an attempt to send people up the toll road for about 4 miles and charge them.
Paul Evans doesn't think it's so bad:
I agree Dunton island must be a nightmare for newcomers, but once you get used to the layout it actually seems very easy and logical. My main gripe is the blasted traffic lights! Nine times out of ten, if I'm going through all or most of them, they'll ALL change to red as I approach. God I hate them...
Rich Tysoe brings good news:
This has changed again since the report above [September 2004]. From the looks of things, the abbreviated place names are being eradicated (still a couple left), and Lichfield is signed down the A446 again.
Mark P is indulging in peaceful protest:
The traffic lights, what a joke - I work nights at the Belfry and go home via this island. I quite simply pay them no attention as they keep running even when the traffic is down to 3 vehicles per minute and you can very easily see if something's coming with your own two eyes (despite the constructor's apparent best efforts to block this). One of these days a policeman may collar me but I dont think he'll be too serious about pressing charges.
Paul Berry has lived through the fear:
It's not 4 lanes, it's 5 lanes. And it is truly a nightmare. I have never been able to go round it properly, which is mostly due to the signage showing destinations on the top tier, road numbers on the middle tier, and lanes on the bottom tier: all of which you're meant to be able to take in.
Your chance of picking the wrong lane is 80% but feels like certainty.
Estelle Haviland has spent a lot of quality time here:
I live in Tamworth and work in Birmingham. Yeh... Dunton Island is appalling - you remember that night in about 2001 - a Thursday night, when we all sat in traffic at Dunton Island for 4 hours? Left work at 5pm, home at 10pm.
Martin Brown quite likes it:
Although it's signalised - I'd say it's no worse than others on the network - indeed isn't 5 lanes on the highway a blessing rather than a hindrance? Plus if you stick to the same lane all the way round you can't go wrong. Indeed it should be praised - it's the only place in the UK I've seen dark blue lane markings! Loads of 'em!
Really it should have been made a "magic roundabout" when the Toll was built, but even now I'd say it's an average rather than bad junction.
Graham Johnson is a bit confused:
I have been unfortunate to live to the north of this junction and travel over it, around it, through it, on a daily basis. Yes, the signage is appaling to the uninitiated, and I am really surprised than shunts and bumps are not more frequent. I have only been hit once in six years of using it - not bad eh?
The junction is at its worst of a weekday winter's morning when the junction is always gridlocked and traffic backs up in all directions. Being a morning Radio FiveLive junkie, I am always amused when the airwaves inform me that "the lights are out on J9 of the M42, approach with care!". Without exception though, the failure of the lights means that the traffic will be flowing freely around the junction and there will be no delays at all. Can this be right?
Matthew looks upon it as a Darwinian experiment:
It's the traffic island of natural selection. It favours the strong and roots out the weak! Great island (if you know where you're going).
I think it's got lots of character.
Jonathan Heeley is a fan:
What are you all whining about.I think this is a brilliant junctions. I have been travelling to the West Midlands for a few years now and regularly used this junctions to leave the M42 southbound and head to Sutton Coldfield and never had any problems. On approach pick the right lane and keep to it and the markings spit you off at the correct exit. BRILLIANT. No looking over your shoulder hoping the HGV moves over etc.
I am now a driving instructor and regularly take pupils over this from all directions and they can manage it even when they are only told to follow the signs to which ever destination I pick.
My only gripe would be the lights. It doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't get round in one go. You always get stopped somewhere while going round. Stephen Hawking must have worked out the timings...
