Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

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wallmeerkat
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by wallmeerkat »

M1 at Belfast had a temporary termini at Donegall Road, a small roundabout.

(I once had a picture but can no longer find it).

This was then made into an offslip as the main termini became the at-grade Broadway Roundabout, which was properly GSJ'd about a decade ago.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by wrinkly »

Chris Bertram wrote: Thu Jul 05, 2018 16:33 Do we count the A18(M) as a totally separate entity from M180? The former ended at an at-grade roundabout, the latter now continues under A18 on a separate grade with a new sliproad.
Surely not, as most of what was the A18(M) survives as part of the M180.

I'm sad that I never saw the A18(M) before it became the M180. I'd like to know about its lanes and stuff.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by nirs »

wallmeerkat wrote: Thu Jul 05, 2018 17:03 M1 at Belfast had a temporary termini at Donegall Road, a small roundabout.
Shocking in hindsight that we actually terminated our first motorway on an unclassified residential road. And it was like that from 1962 until 1981. Although the Belfast Urban Motorway - and it's eventual incarnation as Westlink - was forcefully opposed by many residents, the one exception was the people of Donegall Road who were driven to distraction by the constant stream of lorries passing feet away from the front doors of small terraced houses. They vocally supported Westlink.

The original terminus of the M1 is still there, although the exact shape and geometry of the roundabout has been modified from what it was in the 1960s.

(As an aside Google maps is wrong in that the M1 motorway now begins at the start of the southbound offslip to Broadway roundabout. The A12 doesn't extend beneath the underpass as shown.)
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by wallmeerkat »

nirs wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:00
wallmeerkat wrote: Thu Jul 05, 2018 17:03 M1 at Belfast had a temporary termini at Donegall Road, a small roundabout.
Shocking in hindsight that we actually terminated our first motorway on an unclassified residential road. And it was like that from 1962 until 1981. Although the Belfast Urban Motorway - and it's eventual incarnation as Westlink - was forcefully opposed by many residents, the one exception was the people of Donegall Road who were driven to distraction by the constant stream of lorries passing feet away from the front doors of small terraced houses. They vocally supported Westlink.

There was once a photo though of this, the motorway ended and just a sign for the city centre IIRC. I cannot find it anywhere! I did see it though.

I think it may have been a screenshot from a BBC Documentary
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

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wallmeerkat wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 11:26There was once a photo though of this, the motorway ended and just a sign for the city centre IIRC. I cannot find it anywhere! I did see it though.
I think it may have been a screenshot from a BBC Documentary
There's this photo which is reproduced in my "Belfast Urban Motorway" book. It shows the view from the M1 looking towards the temporary terminus just prior to opening in 1962.
Screen Shot 2018-07-06 at 12.24.55.jpg
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by wallmeerkat »

Thanks @nirs

I also found this on an earlier sabre thread

download/file.php?id=5543&mode=view
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by nirs »

wallmeerkat wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:28 Thanks @nirs

I also found this on an earlier sabre thread

download/file.php?id=5543&mode=view
Ah yes - the sign pointing right says "Shaftesbury Square" which at that time was one of the major road intersections in the city, and the way most traffic went. It just required everyone to trundle along a densely populated residential road to get to it.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by AndyB »

The associated Reduce Speed Now sign had the same incomplete roundabout symbol (also to be seen at J6 until the late 1980s, never mind the aberration at J7!) at the top of the red sign. It remained in place until the underpass was built.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by Jim606 »

There was also the northern-end of the former A41(M) near Tring. This roundabout was later replaced by a GSJ when the now A41 was extended to bypass Aston Clinton in 2003. I am not sure about the arrangement at the southern-end of the former A41(M)? I think the slips roads and bridge were constructed back in 1973 to continue south when the road was later exended? IIRC someone mentioned this on another thread?
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by Bryn666 »

AndyB wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:39 The associated Reduce Speed Now sign had the same incomplete roundabout symbol (also to be seen at J6 until the late 1980s, never mind the aberration at J7!) at the top of the red sign. It remained in place until the underpass was built.
Was never an Anderson Report sign but the roundabout symbol and Reduce Speed Now sign was regular across the early network. The 1957 warning signs were never used on motorways.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

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Jim606 wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 18:23 There was also the northern-end of the former A41(M) near Tring. This roundabout was later replaced by a GSJ when the now A41 was extended to bypass Aston Clinton in 2003.
This was never a temporary terminus. The A41(M) was intended to end there.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by Berk »

nirs wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:30
wallmeerkat wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:28 Thanks @nirs

I also found this on an earlier sabre thread

download/file.php?id=5543&mode=view
Ah yes - the sign pointing right says "Shaftesbury Square" which at that time was one of the major road intersections in the city, and the way most traffic went. It just required everyone to trundle along a densely populated residential road to get to it.
What was the other destination?? And what did the ‘Reduce Speed Now’ sign look like??
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by M5Lenzar »

How did the Ipswich bypass interchange with the old A12?
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by wrinkly »

M5Lenzar wrote: Sat Jul 07, 2018 13:42 How did the Ipswich bypass interchange with the old A12?
If I remember correctly, the A12 Copdock-Washbrook bypass opened simultaneously with the Ipswich bypass.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by Berk »

That would explain the DC dead end running through Copdock.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by wrinkly »

Or to be exact, the A12 C-W diversion must have opened before the western arm of the Ipswich bypass was completed, but I meant they were built as part of the same project.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

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Berk wrote: Sat Jul 07, 2018 13:07
nirs wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:30Ah yes - the sign pointing right says "Shaftesbury Square" which at that time was one of the major road intersections in the city, and the way most traffic went. It just required everyone to trundle along a densely populated residential road to get to it.
What was the other destination??
I can't quite tell - it's probably either "Donegall Road" or "Falls Road", i.e. a fairly local direction sign. Falls probably makes more sense in the context.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by M5Lenzar »

wrinkly wrote: Sat Jul 07, 2018 14:06 Or to be exact, the A12 C-W diversion must have opened before the western arm of the Ipswich bypass was completed, but I meant they were built as part of the same project.
A local Ipswich group on Facebook answered this. There was apparently a temporary roundabout with the then A45 a little to the west of what's now Copdock.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

Post by Berk »

I think temporary roundabouts were quite common between the 60s and the 80s/90s.

Though by definition, they’re quite hard to trace, unless you have access to an old map.
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Re: Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

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Berk wrote: Sat Jul 07, 2018 22:26 I think temporary roundabouts were quite common between the 60s and the 80s/90s.

Though by definition, they’re quite hard to trace, unless you have access to an old map.
If only there was somewhere convenient on the Internet as part of a Society that was interested in roads where you might find some old maps. That would be a great idea.
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