39-449: The Kennedy Interchange , unofficially, though universally, referred to as Spaghetti Junction , is the intersection of Interstate 64 (I-64), I-65 and I-71 at the northeastern edge of downtown Louisville, Kentucky , United States. It is named for the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge , which carries I-65, located immediately to the north of the interchange . The Kennedy Interchange
78-611: A cost of £78,000,000. Work started in March 2022 to upgrade the existing Dynamic Hard Shoulder smart motorway to add newer safety features to the motorway, such as a concrete central reservation, new emergency areas and drainage improvements. Currently, this work does not have an end date proposed. Work started in early 2021 to upgrade the M6 from junction J21A to J26 to the all lane running standard of smart motorway, with an estimated cost of between £100 million - £250 million. The smart motorway
117-547: A new motorway in 2004, 'The Expressway' following a roughly parallel course to the existing M6. In July 2006, the government announced its decision to abandon the Expressway proposal, and favoured widening accompanied by demand-management measures, and launched a study to consider options for providing additional capacity. After the stretch between junction 10a and 13 was upgraded to a managed motorway in February 2016, it
156-493: A project which "should be" completed by 1973. Sections to be illuminated included the M6 between junctions 10 and 11, and between junctions 20 and 27. In March 2006, after 15 years of debate, the government authorised the construction of a 6-mile (9.7 km) extension of the M6 from its then northern terminus near Carlisle to the Anglo-Scottish border at Gretna (the so-called " Cumberland Gap "), where it links into
195-424: A scheme called active traffic management . The two stretches, between junctions 4 and 5 and between junctions 10a and 8, are two of the busiest sections on the entire motorway. It was then proposed that the system could be extended onto other stretches of the M6 while the government undertook a feasibility study to determine other likely locations for this technology to be used. The stretch between junctions 4 and 5
234-519: A split-level cutting above the railway in the descent from Shap Fell through the Lune Gorge into southern Cumbria. The northbound entry slip road at Lancaster (Junction 34) was unusually short, presenting problems for traffic joining the motorway. The M6 crosses the River Lune at this point and unless the bridge had been made wider, there was no space to build a longer slip road. This junction
273-921: Is also part of the east–west route between the Midlands and the east-coast ports. The section from the M1 to the M6 Toll split near Birmingham forms part of the unsigned E-road E 24 and the section from the M6 Toll and the M42 forms part of E 05 . The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 and the A14 in Catthorpe near Rugby in central England. It passes Coventry , Birmingham , Stafford , Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent . The motorway has major junctions with
312-597: Is the longest viaduct in Great Britain. Junction 6 in Birmingham, which opened in May 1972, is widely known as Spaghetti Junction because of its complexity and round and curvy-like design. On the elevated ground between Shap and Tebay , the north and south-bound carriages split apart. At this point a local road (to Scout Green ) runs between the two carriageways without a link to the motorway. The section of
351-571: The M56 and M62 near Warrington , giving access to Chester , Manchester and Liverpool . It also meets the M65 at Junction 29, south of Preston, which connects Blackburn and Burnley , and the M55 at junction 32, north of Preston which links it to Blackpool . The M6 then heads north past Wigan , Preston and Lancaster . After the latter two cities it passes through Cumbria with some parts very close to
390-699: The M73 ) in the north to Exeter (via the M5 ) and to London (via both the M42 / M40 and the M1 ) in the south. The M6 Toll , Britain's first toll motorway , which bypasses the West Midlands conurbation to the east and north of Birmingham and Walsall and was built to alleviate traffic congestion through the West Midlands, opened in December 2003. Before the opening of the toll motorway, this section of
429-674: The Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at the Catthorpe Interchange , near Rugby before heading north-west. It passes Coventry , Birmingham , Wolverhampton , Stoke-on-Trent , Preston , Lancaster and Carlisle before terminating at Junction 45 near Gretna . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74(M) which continues to Glasgow as
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#1732775930577468-404: The $ 2.46 billion Ohio River Bridges Project that built a parallel I-65 span and a new I-265 crossing. The new downtown span and the redesigned interchange were a major change from the pre-existing setup. The following changes were made to Spaghetti Junction as part of this project: On December 7, 2015, the new Abraham Lincoln Bridge opened to northbound traffic. In 2016, southbound traffic
507-572: The M6 carried 180,000 vehicles per day at its busiest point near Wolverhampton (between the junctions with the M54 and M5 motorways), compared with a design capacity of only 72,000 vehicles. Usage, at about 50,000 vehicles, was lower than expected and traffic levels on the M6 were only slightly reduced as a result. The high toll prices, which were set by the operating company and over which the UK Government has no influence until 2054, were blamed for
546-402: The M6 for Manchester , was abandoned in 2006 due to excessive costs, anticipated construction problems and disappointing levels of use of the M6 Toll. In October 2007, following a successful trial on the M42 in the West Midlands, the government announced that two stretches of the M6 would be upgraded to allow the hard shoulder to be used as a normal running lane during busy conditions under
585-496: The M6 gained the first motorway service station to be built for thirteen years. Located off Junction 1 at Rugby and opened on 30 April 2021, the facility, run by Moto Hospitality , includes the largest electric vehicle charging facility in the UK, run by Ecotricity and Gridserve . Work started in 2020 to reconstruct the bridges above the motorway at junction 10, due to frequent congestion at peak times, due to be completed in 2024 at
624-631: The M6 that runs over Shap Fell in Cumbria at Shap Summit is 1,036 ft (316 m) above sea level, one of the highest points on any motorway in the UK (Junction 22 of the M62 on Moss Moor is higher). The motorway engineers here chose to follow the route of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway engineered by Joseph Locke (now part of the West Coast Main Line) where the motorway runs in
663-577: The M74. Its busiest sections are between junctions 4 and 10a in the West Midlands, and junctions 16 to 19 in Cheshire; these sections have now been converted to smart motorways . It incorporated the Preston By-pass , the first length of motorway opened in the UK and forms part of a motorway "Backbone of Britain", running north–south between London and Glasgow via the industrial North of England. It
702-563: The Ohio River Major Investment Study suggested rebuilding the Kennedy Interchange at an estimated cost of $ 120.5 million. It stated that during rush hour, traffic congested at the interchange causing pollution and creating potential accidents since it has a high crash rate. From 1996 to 1998, there were 261 crashes for every 100 million miles traveled within the Kennedy Interchange, 172% higher than
741-535: The Preston by-pass was closed because of rapid surface deterioration over a stretch of 100 yards (91 m) "due to water freezing and then thawing". Motorists were diverted to the old road while the UK road research laboratory at Harmondsworth pondered the importance of surface water drainage. The second phase of construction was completed in 1960, forming the Lancaster by-pass. Some 100 miles (160 km) south,
780-711: The Stafford by-pass was completed in 1962. By 1965, the remaining sections of motorway Stafford–Preston and Preston–Lancaster had been completed. 1966 saw junction 11 to 13 completed. 1968 saw the completion of the Walsall to Stafford link as well as the Penrith by-pass some 150 miles (240 km) north in Cumberland . In 1970, the Lancaster–Penrith link was completed, along with a short section of motorway by-passing
819-521: The city. South of Manchester, there is no true motorway replacement for the old road. The M1 acts as a bypass for long-distance traffic in the south, from the Kegworth junction near Nottingham , to Luton and St. Albans near London; but, it is not an alternative for local traffic as the routes diverge by more than 15 miles (24 km) while passing through Northamptonshire . Across the Pennines ,
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#1732775930577858-508: The districts involved, secured $ 40 million for an environmental impact study (EIS) that was completed in 2002. This allowed design of the new junction and bridges to commence. On October 27, 2005, the original plans for a redesign for the Kennedy Interchange were revealed by the QK4 engineering firm. The $ 1.1 billion project entailed rebuilding the I-64 , I-65 and I-71 interchange. This was part of
897-617: The edge of the Lake District with a short stretch within the national park boundaries and then passes Carlisle on its way to Gretna , before the motorway becomes the A74(M) a few hundred metres short of the Scottish border. The first section of the motorway and the first motorway in the country was the Preston By-pass . It was built by Tarmac Construction and opened by the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on 5 December 1958. In January 1959
936-597: The existing A74(M) . The road opened on 5 December 2008, the 50th anniversary of the M6 Preston By-pass. The project, which was a mixture of new road and upgrade of the existing A74, crosses the West Coast Main Line and had an estimated costs of £174 million. It completed an uninterrupted motorway from just south of Dunblane (via the M9 , the recently opened M80 section near Cumbernauld and
975-452: The low usage. Much traffic continues to use the M6 or the continued on the M1 and took the A50 or A52 . As of July 2012 the road between Junctions 3A and 11A now carries 120,000 motor vehicles every day. A proposed extension to the M6 Toll known as the ' M6 Expressway ', which would have continued from the M6 Toll as far as Knutsford , at which point much of the existing M6 traffic leaves
1014-715: The old A6 , which it does along the northern section starting with the Preston Bypass. However, a much closer approximation to the overall actual route of the M6 (heading north from its southern terminus) is provided by following the A45 , A34 , A50 , A49 , then the A6 . South of Preston, the A6 route is instead supplemented by the M61 as far as Manchester , with the M60 acting as a bypass around
1053-581: The old road remains the main local through-route, and long-distance fast traffic between Derby and Manchester must instead take either the A50 and M6, or M1 and M62. Once all sections of the motorway were constructed, and it was finally all linked together, the result was an uninterrupted motorway length of 230 miles (370 km). In July 1972, the Minister for Transport Industries, John Peyton , announced that 86 miles (138 km) of UK motorway particularly prone to fog would benefit from lighting in
1092-466: The south of Walsall. The most northerly section of the motorway also opened in 1970, running to the designated terminus north of Carlisle. By 1971 the full route was completed between the junction with the M1 motorway at Rugby and the A38 road several miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, including Bromford Viaduct between Castle Bromwich (J5) and Gravelly Hill (J6), which at 3.5 miles (5.6 km)
1131-526: The state Highway Commissioner from 1960 to 1967, stated that "downtown Louisville felt it would be disastrous for it to be bypassed by the interstate". There was tremendous pressure from both sides to push the Interstate Highway System through downtown. Later on in 1996, he reflected back and stated that "... it was a mistake. I think downtown Louisville would have been better off if Interstate 65 had not been located where it is". In 1996,
1170-461: The state average. The need for an upgrade conflicted with demands for a new "East End Bridge" upstream from the city to connect the Kentucky and Indiana sections of I-265 , an idea fought by well-funded preservationists in the area. The study ended decades of debate by recommending that both bridges be constructed. In 1997, U.S. Representatives Anne Northup and Lee H. Hamilton , House members from
1209-458: The word. It refers to the resemblance of a complex, asymmetrical, and irregularly-shaped network of ramps to strands of cooked spaghetti. Spaghetti Junction Spaghetti junction is a nickname sometimes given to a complex or massively intertwined road traffic interchange that is said to resemble a plate of spaghetti . Such interchanges may incorporate a variety of interchange design elements in order to maximize connectivity. The term
Kennedy Interchange - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-573: The world have acquired the nickname. Throughout North America , this type of interchange is widely referred to as a spaghetti junction , mixing bowl , knot , or maze , often including the name of the freeway , city, or notable landmark near enough to the interchange. M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over 230 miles (370 km) from
1287-506: Was completed during December 2009 while the stretch between junctions 10a and 8 was completed during March 2011. This was then followed by a stretch between junctions 5 and 8 which started construction in April 2012 and was completed in October 2014. After plans of the government to improve reliability and capacity between Junctions 11 by Cannock and Junction 19 near Knutsford it favoured
1326-567: Was designed by Barstow, Mulligan and Vollmer, a New York firm. Construction began in the spring of 1962 and when it was complete, the design was adequate to handle the traffic needs of the time. Henry Ward , a member of the Louisville Chamber of Commerce in 1958, lobbied in Frankfort to Highway Commissioner Ward Oates to have I-65 (and other Interstates) routed through downtown Louisville . At that time Ward, who would later become
1365-602: Was moved to the new bridge, so the Kennedy bridge could be repaired. On December 18, 2016, the East End bridge opened as the Lewis and Clark Bridge , named for the explorers who first met at Clarksville, Indiana, across the river from Louisville. Now all three bridges are in full use. The name “Spaghetti Junction” may have originated more than once in different places, with independent coiners who were unaware of each other's use of
1404-427: Was originally due to be fully open in 2023, but is now delayed until 2025. Download coordinates as: Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres (yards) and the start and end distances are known, both distances are shown. Each motorway in England requires that a statutory instrument be published, detailing
1443-793: Was originally used to refer to the Gravelly Hill Interchange on the M6 motorway in Birmingham , United Kingdom. In an article published in the Birmingham Evening Mail on 1 June 1965 the journalist Roy Smith described plans for the junction as "like a cross between a plate of spaghetti and an unsuccessful attempt at a Staffordshire knot ", with the headline above the article on the newspaper's front page, written by sub-editor Alan Eaglesfield, reading "Spaghetti Junction". Since then many complex interchanges around
1482-479: Was then proposed to introduce a managed motorway between junction 13 and 19, later divided into two separate stretches, between junctions 16 and 19 and junctions 13 and 15. The stretch between junctions 16 and 19 started construction in December 2015 and was completed in March 2019 while construction on the stretch between junctions 13 and 15 commenced in March 2018 and was completed in August 2022. In April 2021,
1521-515: Was upgraded from an earlier emergency-vehicles-only access point, which explains the substandard design. The construction of the Heysham to M6 Link Road (The Bay Gateway) has completely re-modelled this junction with a wide additional bridge over the River Lune and other works repositioning slip roads with new acceleration lanes to modern standards. The route was originally intended to replace
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