Starting from Bodmin, the road runs past Liskeard and Saltash, into Devon at the Tamar Bridge, through Plymouth and Buckfastleigh to Exeter. The section from Plymouth to Exeter is designated as the "Devon Expressway", and serves as a southward extension of the M5 motorway.
The road reemerges from its junction with the M5 motorway, ten miles north of Exeter, and heads north via Wellington, Taunton, Bridgwater, Bristol, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester, Bromsgrove and Birmingham. From Exeter to Birmingham, the road is paralleled by the M5, and along this route the A38 has reverted to taking local traffic only. Between Worcester and Birmingham the A38 follows the course of a Roman road, although the construction of bypasses around some towns means the modern_day route deviates somewhat from the original dead_straight road.
The section in Birmingham (called the Aston Expressway) from the city centre through Aston to the junction with the M6 motorway (at Spaghetti Junction) is of motorway standard and is designated the A38 (M). It is a tidal flow road, in that more lanes are available travelling into the city during the morning rush hour, and more travelling out of the city during the evening rush hour. There is no central reservation; instead, one of the middle lanes is always kept empty by means of electronic overhead signs.
Strictly speaking, as the A38 is deemed to run from south-west to north-east, our review should also follow this direction.
If you choose the last of these, the motorway carries on for a short distance, but the central divide reappears, you are down to 2 lanes each way, and the motorway ends by running onto the single-carriageway A-road.
The A38 originally ran through Sutton Coldfield, but renumbering took place after the Sutton by-pass was built, so there is now a dog-leg in the route.
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