Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham
Gravelly Hill Interchange, better known as Spaghetti Junction is junction 6 of the M6 motorway where it meets the A38(M) Aston Expressway in Birmingham, England.
Its colloquial name was coined to describe its complex system of intertwined loops and ramps. It provides access to and from the A38 and local roads.
The junction covers 12 hectares, serves 18 routes and includes 4km of slip roads, but only 1km of the M6 itself. It has 559 concrete columns, reaching up to 24.4 metres height.
Construction started in 1968 and the junction opened in 1972. It has undergone major repair work many times since. Further roadworks are planned from June 18 to December 2006.[1]
Co-located junctions
Underneath the motorway junction are the meeting points of local roads; the rivers Tame and Rea; electricity lines; gas pipelines; the Birmingham Cross-City and Walsall railway lines, and Salford Junction where the Grand Union Canal, Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and Tame Valley Canal meet. The importance of the site for so many services led to the belief that it was a strategic target for a Soviet nuclear weapon during the Cold War.
Cultural influence
The junction featured in the Cliff Richard film Take Me High.
The Student Union of the nearby UCE Birmingham in Perry Barr, had a monthly newspaper with the name of Junction 6.
Elastica mentioned it in their "Car Song".