M49 shield
M49
M49 highlighted in blue
Route information
Maintained by National Highways
Length5.0 mi (8.0 km)
Existed1996–present
Major junctions
Northwest endRedwick
Major intersections
M4 motorway

M5 motorway
Southeast endLawrence Weston
Location
CountryUnited Kingdom
Road network
← M48→ M50
Looking north at Dyer's Common towards the Second Severn Crossing

The M49 is a motorway in England that links the M4 (J22) with the M5 (J18A). The southern end is on the outskirts of Avonmouth and the northern end is immediately to the east of the Prince of Wales Bridge which was constructed at the same time 1996.[1] It is 5 miles (8 km) long and unique in that it is only accessible from other motorways.

Route

The M49 begins at junction 18A of the M5 and then heads roughly north and northwest before it reaches its terminal junction with the M4 at junction 22, just before the Second Severn Crossing at Pilning Interchange. It cuts journey times for traffic to and from Avonmouth docks, Central and southern Bristol and South West England.

Compared to driving via the M4/M5 interchange, using the M49 cuts the distance travelled by 6.2 miles. Having a two-way grade separated roundabout junction with the M4, it also fulfils the additional role of providing a bypass for the busy stretch of the M5 between the Avonmouth Bridge and the M4 in case of that route being shut.

Original plans provided for an intermediate junction with the A403, to serve an expanded industrial area and Severn Beach.[2] Construction of Junction 1 commenced summer 2018 and was completed late in August 2020.[3] Despite this, the junction is not currently connected to the local road network, so cannot be used to access the motorway.[4]

The M49 is anomalously numbered, as it is entirely to the south of the M4 and should therefore begin with a 3.[5]

After the junction itself was completed in August 2020, disputes arose over who should construct the road linking the new Junction 1 to the local road network.[4] The dispute initially emerged between Highways England, South Gloucestershire Council, and the development company Delta Properties, as a result of privately owned land on the development which surrounds the junction.[6]

In February 2021, the West of England Combined Authority agreed to supply £1 million towards the construction of the link road, but by May a further deficit of £1 million had arisen.[7] Land required to complete the junction was in parcels as small as two square metres, which a South Gloucestershire councillor called "ransom strips" to increase the land price. In February 2023, the council authorised compulsory purchase orders for the land purchase, with National Highways providing an additional £7 million for the council to buy the land.[8]

Junctions

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.[9]

M49 motorway junctions
miles km North-west bound exits (B carriageway) Junction South-east bound exits (A carriageway)
0.0 0.0 London, Bath, Bristol, The Midlands M4(E) M4 J22
terminus		 The South West, Avonmouth, Bristol Airport , Weston-super-Mare M49
South Wales, Cardiff, Newport M4(W) Start of motorway
5.3 8.5 Start of motorway Terminus
A4, M5
J18 & J18A		 Avonmouth, Bristol, Airport A4
South Wales, Cardiff, Newport (M4(W)) M49 The South West, Weston-s-Mare, M5
Notes
  • Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown.
  • Junction 1 is under construction.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Information above gathered from Advanced Direction Signs May 2011

See also

References

  1. ↑ CBRD Motorway Database – M49
  2. ↑ Pathetic Motorways – M49
  3. ↑ Highways England - M49 Avonmouth junction
  4. 1 2 Baker, Hannah (18 August 2020). "New £50M junction on M49 finished – but traffic can't actually use it". BristolLive. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "Pathetic Motorways". pathetic.org.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. ↑ Gogarty, Conor; Baker, Hannah (10 February 2021). "Link road to £50m 'dead-end' motorway junction to finally be built". Business Live. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  7. ↑ Gogarty, Conor (17 May 2021). "Dead-end motorway junction saga descends into 'royal mess'". BristolLive. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  8. ↑ Postans, Adam (14 February 2023). "M49 ghost junction 'not our fault' says South Gloucestershire Council as CPOs approved". Bristol Post. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Traffic England Live Traffic Condition Map (selected Popups)". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
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