Is there a need for a MSA on the M42 in Solihull?
It remains a fact that there are no services between Hilton Park on the M6 and Warwick services on the M40 if you travel round the North of Birmingham, a distance of some 49 miles. There are of course two service areas at Frankley on the M5 and Hopwood on the M42 for traffic going round the South of Birmingham. The problem is that the Highways Agency will not direct North/South traffic around the South of Birmingham, as this would only create even more congestion where the M5 joins the M6. Obviously traffic using the M6 Toll Road and the M40 necessarily travels through junctions 4-6 on the M42. Whilst it is not Government policy as such, it seems that the official guideline is to have MSAs every 30 miles. On that basis it would seem appropriate to create a service area somewhere on the M42 between the M6 and M40 interchanges. However there are a number of valid reasons why we should not create a service area along this stretch of the M42 • This short stretch of Motorway is extremely bu
