The area also became connected to the new motorway network in the 1960s, with the M5 motorway terminating between Walsall and West Bromwich, and when completed it gave the region a direct link to areas in the south of England including Bristol and Exeter. The M6 motorway joined up with the M1 motorway to the south, giving the area a direct motorway link to London, and gave a direct motorway link to Liverpool and Manchester in the north. The M42 motorway was developed around the south of Birmingham to serve Birmingham Airport as well as nearby towns including Redditch, Bromsgrove and Tamworth, during the 1970s and 1980s. The M54 motorway, linking the area with Telford, was built around the same time. The M40 motorway was completed in January 1991, giving the area its second motorway link with London, as well as improving its links with the South Coast seaports of Southampton and Portsmouth, along with the university city of Oxford.