Chronology Maps

1995 1996 1997

Click a section name to see full details and a map.

Completed Route Name Start End
M4 Second Severn Crossing J21 Awkley J23 Rogiet
M49 Avonmouth - Second Severn Crossing M5 J18 Lawrence Weston M4 J22 Pilning
M77 Dumbreck - Malletsheugh J1 Dumbreck J5 Malletsheugh

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The road that made no sense

It was the UK's only single-carriageway motorway, and twenty years ago it ceased to exist. This is the story of the strange fascination it held, and of my place in history.

The forever bottleneck, part 2

The second part of the story, where we learn why exactly the M4 gets narrower on the final approach to Europe’s biggest city.

The forever bottleneck, part 1

The M4 into London was one of the UK's earliest and most ambitious motorway projects. It was bold, pioneering... and almost instantly regretted.

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Mixed Signals

During the 1960s the UK developed some of the most sophisticated - and strange - electronic variable message signs anywhere in the world. How? And, just as importantly... why?