The A500 is a major primary A road in Staffordshire and Cheshire, England. It is dual carriageway for most of its length and connects Nantwich, junctions 16 and 15 of the M6 motorway with the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is long. The road was built to provide links between Stoke-on-Trent and the M6, before being extended to Nantwich. Construction has taken place over several stages, beginning in 1962, with the final section of the original route being completed similar to the original plans in 2006. As a trunk road, the section between junction 15 and 16 of the M6 is maintained by the Highways Agency whilst the section past junction 16 is maintained by Cheshire East council. In 2004, the road was stated as carrying 60,000 vehicles a day through Stoke. It is known locally as the "D-Road" or "Potteries D-Road", after its configuration. The originally planned route of the road joins junctions 15 and 16 of the M6 in a 'D' shape, and was represented in the logo used by the Corportion of Stoke when promoting the road. D is also the Roman numeral representing the number 500, the number assigned to the completed road. History By the 1960s, traffic congestion was a major problem in Stoke-on-Trent, and journeys across the area sometimes took hours. There was no connection from the newly constructed M6 to the city. Businesses in the area wanted an easier route to get their goods out of the area. As early as 1961 the route of the road scheme – already known as the "Potteries D Road" – was included in the Staffordshire Development Plan for planning purposes. The A500 was initially built from the M6 at junction 16 to the A34 road at Talke as part of the motorway construction, opening in 1962. At the southern end, a dual carriageway was constructed from junction 15 of the M6 to the A34 near Trentham, given the number A5006, and opened at the same time. The northern section of the road was then subsequently extended from Talke to the A53 road. The final section from the A34 in the south to the A53 junction was built between 1974 and 1977. The two middle junctions were to be grade separated, but due to financial constraints they were built as roundabouts. Construction involved the destruction of streets and businesses within Stoke's town centre, as well as the excavation