A planned section north of the M6 running to the M1 near Nottingham was never constructed as planned being replaced by the A42 link, a trunk road which was completed in August 1989 to link with the
M1 motorway near
Nottingham. In 2019 Solihull Planning Committee rejected two plans to build a new service station near junction 4 or next to junction 5. However, in 2022 the Planning Inspector approved plans to allow the plans to proceed at the junction 5 scheme, subject to the road being a full ALM
Smart Motorway which is currently not on plan to take place due to the cancellation of new Smart Motorways in 2023. The route passes
No Man's Heath, Warwickshire; next door is
Mercia Park, next to the end of M42, in
Stretton en le Field. It was 17 miles from the M6 to the Leicestershire terminus.
History of the road number The current road is the second incarnation of the A42. The original (1923) route was
Reading to
Birmingham via
Oxford. The whole road was renumbered in 1935 – the section from Reading to
Shillingford became part of the
A329, Shillingford to Oxford became part of the
A423 and Oxford to Birmingham became part of the
A34. In 1993 the A423 was itself renumbered, with the section formerly the A42 becoming part of the
A4074 from Reading to Oxford. The modern M42 does interchange with the former A42 at junction 4 near
Solihull: Stratford Road now being numbered A34 to the north of the junction and A3400 to the south.
Former route to Trowell Moor On 8 September 1972
Graham Page announced the last 23.8 miles, the Appleby Magna to Trowell Moor section. The 1972 route to Trowell would pass between
Donisthorpe and
Oakthorpe, to the east of
Norris Hill and
Blackfordby, have a roundabout interchange with the A50 (now A511) at Annwell Place, follow due north to the west of
Smisby, go through Sharp's Bottom Wood, to the east of Smith's Gorse Wood, following the B5006 close to the west of
Ticknall, follow north-east through Robin Wood to the west of Melbourne,
Derbyshire, on a 13-foot embankment pass close to the east of
Stanton by Bridge, cross north-east around five miles across the Trent floodplain to a roundabout interchange with the A6 at
Thulston, cross north-east the Derwent floodplain on a 20-foot embankment close to the west of Ambaston, a limited interchange, with northbound traffic on the M42 passing on to eastbound traffic on the A52 west of
Risley, Derbyshire, pass right through the Erewash Valley Golf Club, and cross the M1 at the Stoney Clouds nature area, directly north of Sandiacre, next to the east side of the M1, at a free-flow interchange. From there, an M42 spur would cross north-east across Trowell Moor, and finish at the junction of the
A609 and the B6004 Coventry Lane (now the
A6002), at Balloon Woods near
Wollaton. Construction was planned for 1975, to take two or three years. Complaints could be sent until 10 November 1972. There were 5,400 complaints. The public enquiry was on 11 September 1973 in
Long Eaton. In 1973 it was proposed to meet M1 at
Stanton by Dale, or possibly to have a link from the M42 at
Swarkestone to the M1 at Lockington.
Stanton by Dale and
Risley, Derbyshire formed an action group, and
Sandiacre was quite unhappy about the project as well. A protest was led by chairman George Knott.
Nottinghamshire County Council objected to the Stanton plan, so it was dropped in March 1976. A revised plan would be published in October 1976. In October 1976 it was expected that a link road from Appleby would meet the M1 at Lockington. The link road, from October 1976 was expected to now only be two-lane, not three lane. Requirements had been changed in the mid-1970s. Another road being looked at, at the same time in 1976, was the
A616 being developed as an extension of the
M67 motorway in south-east Manchester. Also the
M64 motorway was planned to meet M1 at Lockington; the A564 reached Lockington, later the
A50. ==Features==