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| quote: | 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, United Kingdom.
Its colloquial name was coined in the 70s by a sub-editor of the Birmingham Evening Mail, Alan Eaglesfield, after he realised that an aerial picture of the complex system of intertwined loops and ramps reminded him of a plate of spaghetti. It provides access to and from the A38 (Tyburn Road), the A5127 (Lichfield Road/Gravelly Hill), and local roads.
The junction covers 30 acres (12 hectares), serves 18 routes and includes 4km (2.5 miles) of slip roads, but only 1km (0.6 miles) 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 several times since, due to the very heavy traffic through the junction, and some alleged cost-saving measures during its construction.. |
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