M42 Southbound Traffic
If you are travelling south on the M42 — from Tamworth or the M6 towards the NEC, Solihull, the M40 for London, Redditch, Bromsgrove and the M5 — this page covers your carriageway. National Highways calls this direction southbound, although on a map the road heads south-west.
Heading the other way? See M42 northbound traffic »
Search all the latest M42 traffic news →
Latest accident or incident on the M42
The most recent accident or incident on the M42 that we are aware of.
Latest active roadworks on the M42
Roadworks live on the M42 right now.
Lane 1 closure northbound (closing ERA)
03:3926 Sept 2026reported 12 min ago
- Location
- M42 northbound between J3A and J4
- Direction
- Northbound
- Lanes closed
- Lane closures
- Reason
- Maintenance work
- Schedule
- 02:30 Tue 14 July 2026 → 06:00 Thu 31 Dec 2026
+ 1 more active roadworks - search all M42 traffic news →
Latest planned roadworks on the M42
The next planned roadworks scheduled on the M42.
M6 - M42 link road lane closure southbound
03:3926 Sept 2026reported 12 min ago
- Location
- link road from M6 J4A southbound to M42 J8 southbound
- Direction
- Southbound
- Lanes closed
- Lane closures
- Reason
- Road improvement or upgrading
- Schedule
- 05:00 Mon 7 Sept 2026 → 05:00 Mon 5 Oct 2026
Forecast - not confirmed
+ 11 more planned roadworks - search all M42 traffic news →
Search all the latest M42 traffic news →
Updated 03:52 Sat 26 Sept 2026
Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.
How busy is the M42 southbound?
The Department for Transport records the southbound carriageway as southbound from Junction 11 down to Junction 3A, and as westbound from Junction 3A to the M5. By junction order these are the same carriageway, so they appear together here, listed in the order you drive them.
| Stretch (southbound) | Vehicles per day | Lorries |
|---|---|---|
| J11 to J10 | 33,633 | 5,534 |
| J10 to J9 | 37,948 | 5,459 |
| J9 to J8 | 48,894 | 7,458 |
| J7A to J7 | 50,908 | 4,884 |
| J7 to J6 | 64,332 | 6,370 |
| J6 to J5 | 58,172 | 5,613 |
| J5 to J4 | 69,954 | 7,080 |
| J4 to J3A | 66,447 | 7,189 |
| J3A to J3 | 67,175 | 6,165 |
| J3 to J2 | 59,278 | 5,524 |
| J2 to J1 | 59,996 | 5,824 |
| J1 to M5 J4A | 51,376 | 5,620 |
J11 to J10 and J4 to J3A are each counted at two points; in both cases we show the busier southbound figure (the others were 32,461 and 61,965).
What stands out southbound
South of the M6, the southbound side is the busier of the two on every stretch in the table above (at the second J3A to J4 count point, northbound is slightly busier). The busiest is Junction 5 to Junction 4, from Solihull towards Shirley, at 69,954 vehicles a day — the highest one-direction figure anywhere on the M42.
The southbound side also stays busy after Junction 3A. Between Junction 3A and Junction 3 it carries 67,175 vehicles a day against 59,567 the other way, so the section towards Redditch is noticeably busier southbound than northbound.
Where southbound drivers leave
Junction 8 is a southbound exit for the M6 north towards central Birmingham. At Junction 1 southbound drivers can leave for Bromsgrove on the A38, and at the end of the road the M42 splits for the M5 north and the M5 south towards Worcester.
Traffic count figures on this page are from the Department for Transport road traffic statistics, 2025.