M50 motorway (Great Britain)

M50
The M50, looking south-west from the Ryton Bridge towards Ross-on-Wye
Route information
Length:	21.6 mi (34.8 km)
Existed:	1960 – present
History:	Constructed 1960–62
Major junctions
East end:	Strensham
	M5 motorway
West end:	Ross-on-Wye
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The M50 is a 22-mile/35-km-long dual two-lane motorway in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire, England. It is sometimes referred to as the Ross Spur, connecting, as it does, the M5 motorway to a point close to the Herefordshire town of Ross-on-Wye, where it joins the A40 road continuing westward into Wales.

The M50 runs ENE-WSW between:

Leaving the M5 at junction 8, it passes north of Tewkesbury then south of Ledbury. Between junctions 1 and 2 chiefly for these towns respectively, it crosses the River Severn on the Queenhill Bridge and Viaduct over the flood plain. After passing north of Newent, the motorway reaches its terminus, junction 4.

The construction works for the M50 were let under two contracts:

Both contracts were undertaken between 1958 and 1962:

The route forms a strategic (that is, trunk or main) route from the Midlands and northern British Isles to South Wales (also including the A449 and A40 and so was constructed as an early priority.) It is one of the few British motorways not to have been widened, instead retaining its original layout of two lanes in each direction.

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.