was rumoured the construction company was being fined up to £100,000 a day for not keeping to schedule, the road opened on Tuesday 26 September 2006, with the southbound traffic in the morning and northbound traffic in the afternoon. Several months of additional work was needed to finalise traffic light operations, gardens, and other miscellaneous tasks. In February 2009, it was announced that the single carriageway Nantwich bypass would be re-numbered as the A51 in a bid to relieve the town centre of traffic. In 2015, the final 500m of the eastbound single carriageway between Weston and Junction 16 of the M6 was upgraded. This included resignalling works on the roundabout in order to relieve congestion at the roundabout. Route The road is the primary access route for traffic to and from almost all areas of Stoke-on-Trent. Starting to the east of Nantwich on the Nantwich bypass the dual carriageway Shavington bypass running north of Hough and Shavington. Returning to the 1980s single carriageway extension route it continues east through a cutting to the M6 at Junction 16 where it becomes a dual carriageway. Continuing through open countryside it passes under the A34 at Talke Pits, turns south before meeting the Tunstall Western Bypass and enters the north of Stoke-on-Trent. Now continuing in an urban setting it runs between Newcastle and Burslem, passing through the middle of the former Wolstanton Colliery before running east of Stoke's town centre. Passing through the newest section in a cutting it emerges south of Stoke alongside the site of the Victoria Ground. Turning west it passes the Bet365 Stadium before leaving the urban area at Hanford, south of Trent Vale. It then runs through a cutting before meeting the M6 at junction 15. Junctions {| class=wikitable |- align="center" bgcolor=#00703c style="color: #ffd200;font-size:120%;" | colspan="4" | A500 Road |- !scope="col"| Northbound exits !scope="col"| Junction !scope="col"| Southbound exits !scope="col"| Coordinates |- align="center" | Nantwich, Stone A51 | CheerbrookRoundabout | Start of road | |- align="center" | Crewe, Shavington B5071 | | Crewe, Shavington B5071 | |- align="center" |Crewe Employment Park A5020 | |Crewe Employment Park A5020 | |- align="center" | Start of dual carriageway | | Crewe, Weston A5020 Keele A531End of dual carriageway | |- align="center" | The North West, Preston M6 The South, Birmingham M6Radway Green B5078End of dual carriageway | M6 J16 | Start of dual carriageway | |- align="center" | Audley, Alsager |