Pathetic Roads UK, 17 September 2022

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PixelDubs
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Pathetic Roads UK, 17 September 2022

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Post by PixelDubs »

Hello, this week's pathetic road is the M49, basically a massive sliproad, or for you Americans on/off ramp.

[b]Where is it?[/b]
Northwest of Bristol, in historic Gloucestershire.

It meets the M4 at junction 22 and the M5 at junction 18A.

[b]Can you show me that on a map?[/b]
Yes of course
[url=https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/51.5434/-2.6365]OpenStreetMap (BEST)[/url]
[url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.54951 ... 373866,13z]Google Maps (Street View, outdated map)[/url]
[b][i]*GOOGLE MAPS DOES NOT SHOW THE NEW UNUSED MOTORWAY JUNCTION, I SUGGEST USING OPENSTREETMAP*[/i][/b]

[b]What makes this a pathetic motorway?[/b]
This is yet another candidate for the daftest full-blown motorway.

[b]OK - what is it then?[/b]
Well, it really doesn't deserve to be a motorway in its own right.

[b]Oh no. You're making no sense![/b]
Right, let me take this slowly. It's the only motorway within mainland Britain currently with NO junctions to call its own. It meets two different motorways at either end and nothing in the middle. It's simply there to cut the corner off between the South West and South Wales, via the M4 Second Severn Crossing - a journey that can already be made via the M4/M5 junction...

I suppose it is only its length which means that it has its own number. Oh yes, and the number it has got is wrong, or more technically "out of zone" - motorways west of the M5 are supposed to start with a 5... However, given that the M49 is the only motorway that lies south of M4, but west of M5 it's impossible to be certain whether this is still the case, but it certainly was when.

As a piece of trivia, it means that this is also the only motorway without a "start of restrictions" signpost, as you're already under motorway restrictions whenever you join.

[b]Hang on, you said "back then"...[/b]
Indeed. At the time of writing, there is a new junction (the M49 Avonmouth Junction) approximately halfway along the motorway and should of been open to traffic in 2019, however, the nearby warehouses were meant to build the road themselves but expected Highways England to build one, although it should be open in 2 years, well if it does, and if it does open, that would mean it would be 5 years after being constructed to even see traffic!

Can I see some photographs?
[url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bris ... on-7109881]Of course![/url]
Last edited by CommanderABab on 18 Sep 2022, 01:15, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Disabled BBC code so that users may see where they are going. That Bristol post link is clingy.

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