The route remained unchanged until the 1980s when the Hanford Roundabout junction had a flyover built, as this was a major bottleneck for both the A500 and A34. The 1977 section east of this junction had been built with provision for the bridge, but the section built as the A5006 required realignment for the new interchange. In the late 1980s the road was extended from Junction 16 close to Weston with connections provided to existing roads to Keele and Crewe. The A52, which at that time ran to Nantwich, was renumbered from Newcastle to Weston as a B road and the section from Weston to Nantwich was incorporated into the A500. In 1989 a bypass to the east of Nantwich was opened, extending the A500 from the south of Nantwich to its current northerly terminus with the A51.