It has one of the most recognisable names for a road junction in the UK, but what lies beneath it is a mystery to most.
Aptly named Spaghetti Junction, built about 52 years ago, is one of the country’s best known concrete structures of flyovers carrying thousands of vehicles on the outskirts of Birmingham for most hours of each day.
It is officially called the Gravelly Hill Interchange, but most drivers using the M6 motorway call it by its colloquial name Spaghetti Junction, due to its five levels and the seemingly endless loop of roads intersecting there as 18 routes merge.
To drive every single route which merges there would cover 73 miles, according to National Highways. The name was coined by newspaper reporter Roy Smith, who said that from the sky it looked like spaghetti on a plate.
However, few will have ever seen the 30-acre underside which contains a maze of graffiti covered subways and paths and an unexpected amount of green space.
It also includes two railways lines, the Aston Reservoir, two rivers and no less than three canals passing underneath.
The pillars had to be built wide enough to allow a horse-drawn narrow boat to pass through.
The huge intersection took four years to finish from 1972 at a cost of what now seems budget at £10 million – and is hoped to last a further seventy years.
Birmingham Live Features Writer Kirsty Bosley described the contrasting “creepy and peaceful” scenes below following a recent stroll.
She wrote: “As much as I wanted to enjoy a peaceful stroll, it all felt a bit… creepy?
“In parts, my wander around the reservoir had been beautiful. On the west side of it, furthest away from the junction, in particular. Aside from sliding in goose poop occasionally, and questioning whether the swans were friendly or if I was at risk of them snapping my arms.
“Further around, though, I kept peeping over my shoulder. Maybe it was the garbage that had been dumped under the old bridge, the graffiti, weeds and a sign threatening the ‘danger of death’, but it felt in sharp contrast to the peaceful side of the water.
“That’s the thing about this area, I suppose – it’s one of sharp contrasts. Birds and butterflies are making the most of those weeds, and old Birmingham, it’s canal and the reservoir, tell of our industrial history as modern electric cars and trucks full of online shopping parcels speed overhead.”