The Lucky Donut

Thousands of motorists in Stoke rejoiced and a million sat nav units simply sighed as the New Improved "D Road" was finally opened today.

This extract from The Sentinel, explains why it took so long, and why it's been worth the wait, and the endless queueing.

Two-and-a-half years of traffic gridlock in Stoke-on-Trent came to an end today as the 40 million overhaul of the A500 was finished and the road was opened .... The complex project, which was started in March 2004, has involved diverting two rivers and a canal, building two 20-foot bridges and laying of 56,560 tonnes of new road material such as tarmac.

Journey times are expected to be cut by an average of four minutes at rush hour - and up to three minutes at quieter times.