The section from junctions 24a (in Lockington-Hemington) and 24 (in Kegworth) of the M1 is the former A6, and has not been widened. It has only three lanes westbound from junction 24a.
The Stoke-and-Derby section was originally intended to be part of an M64 motorway but this project was cancelled in the 1970s.
Proposed development
In November 2013 it was reported that funding would be being made available for improvements to the section around Uttoxeter, with work starting no later than 2015/16.[2] A few days earlier the MP was lobbying for the improvements, stating that improvements were needed to the traffic islands for safety reasons and to improve traffic flow.[3] There are plans for 700 new houses to the west of Uttoxeter and to the south of the A50.[4][needs update]
History
The old A50
Prior to the opening of the M1, the A50 route was one of two main routes from London to the north-west via Leicester, until it was replaced during the 19th century by what has become the A6. A third route between London and Leicester was via the A5 to Old Stratford, A508 to Market Harborough and thence the A6. That route and the A50 route both passed through Northampton which was a significant calling point on many coaching routes until the arrival of the railways.
Until the M1 opened, the A50 used to terminate at Hockliffe in Bedfordshire at a junction with the A5.
When the M1 motorway opened alongside the old route south of Northampton it was down-classified as:
From that point until the 1990s the southern point of the A50 was at a junction with the A508 in Kingsthorpe, Northampton.
In the 1990s, with the opening of the A14 and to discourage traffic from using the road between Leicester and Northampton, the old route was re-designated as A5199 between Leicester and Northampton.
At the same time the A50 became the A511 north of Leicester, between Burton upon Trent and Ashby-de-la-Zouch to Leicester when the dual carriageway section bypassing Derby was completed.
The current route
Part of the route mirrored the plans for the original M64 motorway, with three lanes in some sections – notably between Kegworth and the A6 near Derby.
The new A50 route was opened in stages between March 1985 and 1999, with using various temporary designations:
1997 (June): 3-mile (4.8 km) £52m section 1 of Blythe Bridge – Queensway.
1997 (September): the £109.5m 14.9-mile (24.0 km) Derby Southern Bypass (opened by Helene Hayman, Baroness Hayman, Minister for Roads at the DETR), as the A564.
1997 (September): The A6 Derby Spur.
1997 (November): the 1-mile (1.6 km) £21m section 2 of Blythe Bridge – Queensway.
1998: 5-mile (8.0 km) £20.6m Doveridge Bypass as the A564.
1999: the delayed A50/M1 junction 24a improvements.
On completion, the Southern Derby Bypass was re-designated as the A50, being maintained privately by Connect A50 Ltd. Much of this new section of road is made of concrete.
Incidents
In 2008, two mentally ill Swedish sisters, Ursula and Sabina Eriksson, caused mayhem on the nearby M6, and one of them jumped from an overpass on the A50.[5]
^"MP calls on Parliament for improvement to A50". UTTOXETER'S MP is calling on Parliament to make major improvements to the infrastructure of the A50 in a bid to improve safety for residents... The two islands on the A50 are a major bottle neck and regularly causes accidents. They cannot cope with the volume of traffic it has to deal with. Investment in improving these islands would improve traffic flow, stop accidents and make the lives of drivers in Uttoxeter a heck of a lot easier.
