A38(M) motorway

A38(M)
Aston Expressway
Route information
Maintained by Birmingham City Council
Length	2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Existed	1972–present
History	Opened and completed: 1972
Major junctions
North end	Gravelly Hill
Major intersections	M6 motorway
South end	Birmingham city centre
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Counties	West Midlands
Primary destinations	Birmingham city centre
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A8(M) → A48(M)

The A38(M), commonly known as the Aston Expressway, is a motorway in Birmingham, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) long and was opened on 24 May 1972.^[1] It connects the M6 motorway to Aston and Central Birmingham and forms part of the much longer A38 route.

It is extremely unusual as it is the only single carriageway motorway in the United Kingdom and consists of seven lanes with no central reservation, and operates a tidal flow system in an attempt to minimise congestion. Due to the nature of the road, the speed limit is reduced to 50 mph (80 km/h) for most of its length with a very short length of 30 mph (48 km/h),^[2] though there are no permanent speed cameras as of 2010.

When construction work of the motorway began in the late 1960s, many late 19th-century and early 20th-century houses in the Aston area had to be demolished to make way for the new route.