Autovía M-501

M-501  Autopista M-501
Autovía de los Pantanos
The M-501 is part highway (blue) and part 2-lane road (orange). The road continues as CL-501 in the province of Ávila.
Route information
Length:	48 km (30 mi)
Major junctions
From:	M-40/M-511 Boadilla del Monte
To:	Navas del Rey
Highway system
Autopistas and autovías in Spain

The M-501 highway is an autovía in the Spanish region of Madrid. It is managed by the Madrid regional government as a primary road in the Madrid network. Only the first 48 kilometres (30 mi), from the beginning near Madrid to the current end at Navas del Rey are motorway-grade, while a two-lane road also called M-501 continues on to the regional border with the province of Ávila (Castile and León).

It is named after the old comarcal road C-501 that connected the cities of Alcorcón (near Madrid) and Plasencia (in Extremadura), which was split in three parts and transferred to the relevant Autonomous Communities. The several dams and reservoirs in the route of the road made the M-501 stuck to the name of Reservoir Highway (Sp. Autovía de los Pantanos) even when the current highway does not pass near any reservoir.

The M-501 begins at the intersection of the M-40 beltway and the M-511 dual carriageway near Pozuelo de Alarcón and Boadilla del Monte. It borders the latter town, intersecting the M-50 beltway and is later joined by the M-506 near Villaviciosa de Odón and the European University of Madrid. It then crosses the future highway M-600 south of Brunete and continues west to Chapinería and Navas del Rey, where the autovía ends at a roundabout.