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 of a mass grave of the victims of a 17th-century cholera epidemic. This final section was named Queensway, and on its completion the whole route became the A500.