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| A42 road | |
| Length (miles) | 15 |
|---|---|
| Length (km) | 24 |
| Direction | North east - South west |
| Start | Kegworth |
| End | Appleby Magna |
| Construction ended | 1989 |
| Roads joined |      ![]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Motorway_Right.svg){kind=small} M1 motorway  M42 motorway A444 road A453 road A511 road A512 road |
The A42 is a major trunk road in the United Kingdom. It links junction 23A of the M1 motorway to junction 11 of the M42 motorway. The A42 is in effect a continuation of the M42, and its junctions are numbered accordingly.
It is built to a similar standard to the M42 being a grade separated dual carriageway. The six mile Measham and Ashby-de-la-Zouch bypass section was opened in August 1989 at a cost of £33m.
A stretch of the A42 near Ashby has been selected as one of 5 possible East Midlands locations for a proposed piece of public art called the Sky Vault.
Contents |
Junctions
| A42 Road | ||
| Northbound exits | Junction | Southbound exits |
| Nottingham A453 (North) East Midlands Airport, Diseworth A453 (West) Donington Park services (only) |
Terminus Roundabout M1 J23A |
Leicester M1 Start of road |
| Nottingham, Sheffield M1 | No exit | |
| Tonge, Castle Donington A453 | J14 | No exit |
| Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville A511 Shepshed, Loughborough A512 |
J13 | Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville A511 Shepshed, Loughborough A512 |
| Measham, Snarestone B4116 Ashby-de-la-Zouch B5006 |
J12 | Measham, Snarestone B4116 Ashby-de-la-Zouch B5006 |
| Start of road | J11 | Twycross, Swadlincote, Burton upon Trent A444 Non motorway traffic |
| Twycross, Swadlincote, Burton upon Trent A444 | Road continues as M42 to Birmingham | |
Bridging Link
The A42 was built by the Government in 1982 to link the M42 Northern Section to the M1; although it wasn't designated as motorway, and has no hard shoulder, the road is fully grade separated and runs with two lanes each way, the same as the M42 below it.
The original planned line of the M42 saw it taking a more northbound line, crossing what is now the A50 Derby Southern Bypass and meeting the M1 north of Bardills Island (A52/M1 interchange).
Service stations
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 disappeared 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. Interestingly, the modern M42 does interchange with the ghost of the old A42 at J4 (Stratford Road now being numbered A34 to the north, A3400 south of there).
See also
External links
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