Which temporary termini were originally at-grade?

[RJDG14]

When motorways were built in the 1960s and 1970s, they were commonly constructed in sections by different contractors, and therefore one section may have been opened up to 5 years before the adjoining section. This usually meant that traffic was routed off of the motorway to a junction where it would direct traffic onto an A-road, often the one which the motorway had replaced.

In many cases these junctions were built with provision for an expansion, so featured bridges and stubs for the future carriageway, although they may have lacked sliproads adjoining the section that hadn't yet been built. On the other hand, I know there were some temporary termini that were originally built at-grade and then rebuilt into a grade seperated junction when the motorway was extended, and wanted to know where some of these were. Some of the ones I can think of include:

*M6 Preston Bypass southern terminus - The picture I've seen of the roundabout from 1959 appears to show it without any bridges, although the motorway entrance lanes were still spaced in such a manner that they could easily be made slip roads.

*M6 Preston Bypass North/M4 Maidenhead Bypass midway (now the A404(M) junction) /M6 Lancaster Bypass North - the termini of these are now on spurs, however it's different to the original southern ending of the M5 where it was diverted onto the M50 because there was no direct provision made for a junction to extend the motorway, although there was still a noticeable bend suggesting they planned to extend the motorway from those points.

*M4 east of Port Talbot - this is again a little like the other two, and the original final few hundred metres is now an unnumbered spur which meets an at-grade roundabout. The motorway was diverted just to the south when it was extended in the 1990s.

There were also temporary termini between modern junctions that no longer exist at all, and a page on the wiki lists these.

[wrinkly]

Rather a large subject!

There have been previous threads on temporary termini and there are Wiki pages listing temporary termini in England and Scotland - though different contributors to those pages may have had inconsistent ideas on the meaning of "temporary terminus". I originally conceived them as being about "temporary tie-ins", defined as having temporary link roads or pieces of road surface.

To begin with the M6. As you say the original Preston bypass south end at J29 was originally a flat roundabout, of the same shape as the later permanent roundabout, and with a house or other building in the middle. Bridges were later built under it when it was extended south.

At the site of J32 there was originally a "temporary bend" with no bridges.

At the north end of the Preston bypass at what is now M55 J1, there was a roundabout on the line of the present roundabout with splayed carriageways on the approach and an embankment between them.

At J33 (south end of the Lancaster bypass) there were no bridges except the railway bridge, just a temporary bend leading to the present roundabout.

At J35 there were no bridges except over the canal, just a temporary bend leading to what is now the A601(M).

More later.

[nowster]

Note that there's a temporary terminus quiz running here at the moment...

[AndyB]

M2 NI.

Origin (currently partially present) at what is now J1A, lanes 1-4 turned left and were dumped onto local road network at a set of traffic lights. Lane 5 was closed further back.

Temporary junction between J4 and J5 at Paradise Walk - two lanes southbound dumped onto an S2. Northbound RCS was last replaced late 80s/early 90s.

M22 NI.

J3 was a t-junction until it was closed permanently for the A6 upgrade works. It will reopen eventually as a compactish GSJ (as compact as you can get on a motorway) but until September, the eastbound M22 has de facto had motorway regulations suspended as the eastbound A6 is closed. De jure, the regulations are still in place, but it has been advertised as permitting non-motorway traffic.

[orudge]

Until 2011, the M74 ended here, at a flat roundabout (albeit flared for future grade separation).

The M8 used to start at Newbridge Roundabout. I'm not sure if you'd call this a temporary terminus as such, but it's certainly no longer the terminus of the M8.

[Chris5156]

There must be dozens and dozens of these, so you’re asking a lot here. There is also currently a map quiz running that relies on people identifying temporary motorway termini, so I and perhaps others might not want to start making a list that will basically give away all the answers at this exact moment in time...!

*M6 Preston Bypass North/M4 Maidenhead Bypass midway (now the A404(M) junction) /M6 Lancaster Bypass North - the termini of these are now on spurs, however it's different to the original southern ending of the M5 where it was diverted onto the M50 because there was no direct provision made for a junction to extend the motorway, although there was still a noticeable bend suggesting they planned to extend the motorway from those points.

I don’t really know what you’re getting at with the Maidenhead Bypass. There was no noticeable bend at any point; the westward continuation of the M4 from what is now junction 8/9 branched off at a point that was never envisaged as a junction when the Maidenhead Bypass was built. The intention had been for the M4 to continue around the north side of Reading. Junction 8/9 was built on a new site south-west of the original motorway mainline, which was abandoned. It was partly destroyed by construction of the A308(M); other parts are visible in the fields near the motorway.

[wrinkly]

Just looked at the quiz. It's a good one, there are several I haven't got yet.

[wallmeerkat]

M2 NI.

Origin (currently partially present) at what is now J1A, lanes 1-4 turned left and were dumped onto local road network at a set of traffic lights. Lane 5 was closed further back.

Originally all 5 lanes were used, 2 lanes almost U-turned left, 3 lanes continued to Whitla Street.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ima ... _10672.jpg

(won't let me embed as a img)

It was later when the Westlink link was built that 2 lanes exited at Duncrue, 2 lanes onto Nelson Street and Westlink, and the rightmost lane 5 closed.

The skijump stumps were later used by the M3, and the junction changed to 1 lane exiting at Duncrue, 2 lanes towards the Westlink, and 2 lanes for the M3.

[Duncan macknight]

The western end of the M8 Renfrew bypass ended at a T junction which was later grade separated when the bishop bypass stage 1 was opened. The junction was closed off sometime after this but is now in the process of reopening for developments around the Bishop area.

Some of the terminus on the M90 were some distance away from the last/next junction. The Crossgates and Kelty bypass ran from Duloch-Lochran. Various pages state this is between J3-J5 but the motorway terminated a short distance south of J5 at Lochran which was later extended to Marcarse which was built later on.

[wrinkly]

I can't think of any M6 contracts south of the Preston bypass that didn't include any bridges necessary for continuation to the next contract.

The same applies between Lancaster and Carlisle except that, as I've often mentioned in other threads, there were two successive temporary termini on the A6 south of J40. The Penrith bypass was the first section of M6 to open north of J35. J40 itself was never a temporary terminus.

The first temporary terminus was a flat roundabout where the M6 runs parallel to the A6. The second was where the M6 goes over the A6 and was a fork-type junction with two temporary slip roads, with the A6 as the "main" route, and incorporating the permanent bridge as part of the temporary junction.

I think I've read on here that the M6 southbound bridge over the M1 was built as part of the M1.

[Chris Bertram]

How about the M40? Before the continuation to Birmingham, it flowed directly - and invisibly, apart from an end of motorway sign - into the A40 just west of J7. This had to be re-engineered for the new section with a flyover built for the A40, and motorway restrictions were *extended* to the A40/A418 junction at Wheatley on what was now a spur. Travelling London-bound before the extension, the start of motorway was where A40 diverged about a mile west of J7, explaining why J7 only ever had three slips (it now has just two east-facing slips, the west-facing on-slip now being for emergency access only).

But whether this should be considered a "temporary" end depends on whether the M40 was considered complete at the time of the original construction. And I have to say I don't know about that.

[RJDG14]

It seems as if many of the earliest motorways were built without provision for expansion in the contract (Preston Bypass, Lancaster Bypass etc).

I think the north/south ends of the original M1 were also at-grade. The M50 was also an early motorway, but the at-grade roundabout at the western end was always intended as the permanent end and someone said on another thread that they believe the eastern end was built with provision for expansion. Both ends of the original M5 were definitely built with provision, as early 1960s aerial shots and old maps show.

The most complete temporary terminus would have probably been on the Northern Irish M1 at Dungannon, where until the early 1980s the motorway had been built for almost a mile past the junction but wasn't in use.

A few years ago I was curious what J18 of the M4 was like as a temporary terminus between 1966 and 1971, but the photo I've since found shows it as having originally been built with full provision for expansion, including extending the motorway about a hundred metres past the roundabout.

[wrinkly]

Scotland is the great home of temporary tie-ins. The first motorway in Scotland was the first piece of M90 north of the Forth Road Bridge (plus the A823(M)). Its north end was at a temporary tie-in to the then A90 at Duloch. Later the M90 had several other temporary tie-ins further north.

This was soon followed by the M8 Harthill bypass but as first opened it extended neither east to J4 nor west to J5.

The third motorway to open in Scotland was the M74 Hamilton bypass stage 1, which ran south from J5 to a terminus intended at the time to be permanent, but later abolished, between J8 and J9.

This page lists temporary termini in Scotland. Currently I think all the examples on the page included lengths of temporary carriageway.

[RJDG14]

There were also some along the M74/A74(M) in the 1980s/1990s while the road was being upgraded to motorway, which I suspect were regular grade seperated junctions where non-motorway traffic would be routed off and motirway restrictions would begin, much like the various A1(M) termini. The A1 and A74 were a very similar standard based on what I know, along with old A74 images that I've gone hunting for.

[A42_Sparks]

Temporary junction between J4 and J5 at Paradise Walk - two lanes southbound dumped onto an S2. Northbound RCS was last replaced late 80s/early 90s.

Does anyone have a map of this layout? I have never seen one but have wanted to for many years.

What is the significance of the RCS replacement?

[Robert Kilcoyne]

There were also some along the M74/A74(M) in the 1980s/1990s while the road was being upgraded to motorway, which I suspect were regular grade seperated junctions where non-motorway traffic would be routed off and motirway restrictions would begin, much like the various A1(M) termini. The A1 and A74 were a very similar standard based on what I know, along with old A74 images that I've gone hunting for.

When the M74 was extended west of Maryville to Fullarton Road, it was necessary to re-model the western end of the Maryville interchange as the M74 at the time flowed straight into the A74 London Road (the layout before the extension required the northbound A721 (old A74) to cross the motorway with a sharp left hand curve to join the westbound M74, at which point motorway regulations ended. Traffic on the south/eastbound A74 had to turn off onto the A721 as the mainline became the motorway.

One of the earliest upgrades to A74(M) was in the upper Clyde Valley, a three mile section between Elvanfoot and Paddy's Rickle Bridge; there were temporary east facing slip roads from the bridge on the B7076 which crosses over the A74(M) southeast of Elvanfoot.

The dual carriageway A74 before the upgrades was a very fast road for its time, but was also notorious. It had numerous at grade right turns, notably at Greenhillstairs (B719), Elvanfoot (A702), either side of Crawford, Abington (B797, which had to cater for movements not available at the GSJ for the A73 further north), and a staggered crossroads with the A70 near Happendon. The Lesmahagow bypass had narrow lanes and another at grade right turn with the B7018.

[AndyB]

M2 NI.

Origin (currently partially present) at what is now J1A, lanes 1-4 turned left and were dumped onto local road network at a set of traffic lights. Lane 5 was closed further back.

Originally all 5 lanes were used, 2 lanes almost U-turned left, 3 lanes continued to Whitla Street.

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/ima ... _10672.jpg

I could have sworn I’d seen wicket signs in that photo! Oh well, so much for my memory.

[AndyB]

Temporary junction between J4 and J5 at Paradise Walk - two lanes southbound dumped onto an S2. Northbound RCS was last replaced late 80s/early 90s.

Does anyone have a map of this layout? I have never seen one but have wanted to for many years.

What is the significance of the RCS replacement?

Wesley would be the guy to ask. The significance of the replacement is that nobody appears to have assessed whether it was still needed in the first place!

[DB617]

The M50 was also an early motorway, but the at-grade roundabout at the western end was always intended as the permanent end and someone said on another thread that they believe the eastern end was built with provision for expansion. Both ends of the original M5 were definitely built with provision, as early 1960s aerial shots and old maps show.

Swerving off topic, but to help me get a timeline in my head - was it ever suggested that the Ross Spur would be anything other than a spur? In the motorway madness days, was there no plan for a motorway to connect through Monmouthshire to Newport (current A40-A449), or through Raglan to the coal fields (current A40-A465-A470)? It seems unbefitting the prosperity given to Wales by the coal industry that the fairly crap arrangement of partially grade-separated dual carriageways and one very fatal S3 spreading out from the terminus of the M50 were always the plan. Only now with the Heads of the Valleys expressway are we seeing the kind of plan I'd have thought the coal fields deserved.

Perhaps this was due to the dominance of railway and ship traffic carrying coal - through Newport, Cardiff and Barry rather than by road to greater England?

[wrinkly]

I think the north/south ends of the original M1 were also at-grade.

The original south end at J5 was a flat, circular roundabout which was removed when it was extended south. As far as I know nothing remains of it today. The original north end at J18 was the roundabout and south-facing slip roads that we have today, with an embankment between them but no bridges.

The M50 was also an early motorway, but the at-grade roundabout at the western end was always intended as the permanent end and someone said on another thread that they believe the eastern end was built with provision for expansion.

I hadn't heard of any original plan to extend the M50 at its east end, but there was one later, after the M5 extended both ways from the junction.