M32 (J1 aka 19A)

[Steven]

Unfortunately, you are proceeding from a false assumption.

The first section of M32 was originally the M4 Hambrook Spur, ending at J19A.

When the road was extended to the south, it was remembered M32. There never was an M32 J19A, or 19B. M4 J19A became M32 J1. M32 J2 always was M32 J2.

[gepree68]

The first section of M32 was originally the M4 Hambrook Spur, ending at J19A.

I agree with the above statement.

When the road was extended to the south, it was remembered M32. There never was an M32 J19A, or 19B. M4 J19A became M32 J1. M32 J2 always was M32 J2.

I do not think the above comment is quite right, because this picture shows M32 J1 marked as junction 19A (when travelling northbound between today's M32 J2 and J1).

I am assuming that M32 J2 and J1 were given temporary junction numbers J19B and J19A, perhaps just between July 1970 (when today's J2-J1 opened) and May 1975 (when M32 was complete, with the opening of today's J3-J2).

But I would like to know whether, until May 1975, the motorway was called M32 or something else like Axxx(M).

[Bryn666]

Don't take signs at face value - they're often wrong! There's a tiny possibility a 19A and 19B existed given that the then A423(M) (now A404(M)) had a 9A and 9B but I don't see it personally. More likely the sign maker knew that J19A existed and signed it as such even though it should have been J1. In any case it also has that A407 issue doesn't it.

The M32 has always been the M32 once it extended past Hambrook. Or at least no provisional numbers have ever been discovered for it. It is, after all, a new alignment and not a replacement of an existing road - the Bristol end required significant local road upgrades to tie into for instance.

[Chris Bertram]

In any case it also has that A407 issue doesn't it.

??? I know the screen grab is a bit indistinct, but I can read that as A432. The junction number, however, is much too long to be just "1".

[KeithW]

In the 1960s, when M32 J1 and J2 were called J19A and J19B, what was the actual number of the motorway?

For example if you were travelling westbound on today's A4174 to today's M32 J1, what would the sign say was the motorway you would join if you turned left?

The road as originally built was referred to as the Hambrook Spur and was basically an elongated slip road of the M4. The M32 designation came later when it was extended and became a Motorway in its own right. At the time It would have said M4.

Here is the Gazette entry

1. The North of Almondsbury—Hambrook, East of
Almondsbury—Filton By-Pass and Hambrook Spur
Special Roads Scheme 1963 (S.I. 1963/778).
The following length of special road provided by
the Minister at Hambrook in the County of
Gloucester in pursuance of the above-mentioned
Scheme:
A length of the M.4 Motorway consisting of about
the last 517 yards of the North of Almondsbury
—Hambrook Special Road (the route of which is
described in paragraph 1 of the Schedule to the
above-mentioned Scheme), that is to say, from
its junctions with the two north-western connecting
roads to the Hambrook Spur interchange
roundabout (the routes of which are described
in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of the Schedule to the
Hambrook Spur Motorway Connecting Roads
Special Roads Scheme 1964), to the end of the
route first-mentioned above.

2. The Hambrook Spur Motorway Connecting Roads
Special Roads Scheme 1964 (S.I. 1964/165).
The following special roads provided by the
Minister of Transport at Hambrook in the County
of Gloucester in pursuance of the above lastmentioned
Scheme:
The special roads (forming parts of the interchange
between the M.4 Motorway and the Hambrook
Spur Motorway) along the routes described in
paragraphs numbered 4 and 5 of the Schedule
to that Scheme.

3. The Hambrook—Tormarton Special Road Scheme
1963 (S.7. 1963/1659).
The following length of special road provided by
the Minister of Transport in the County of
Gloucester in pursuance of the above last-mentioned
Scheme :
A section of the M.4 Motorway consisting of a
length of the Hambrook—Tormarton Special
Road along the greater part of the route described
in the Schedule to the said Scheme, being a length
which begins at the starting point of that route
and ends at its junctions with the two western
connecting roads to the Tormarton roundabout
on the Bath—Lincoln Trunk Road (A.46) (the
routes of which are referred to in paragraph 4
below).

4. The Hambrook—Tormarton Motorway Connecting
Roads Special Roads Scheme 1964 (S.I. 1964/311).
The following special roads provided by the
Minister of Transport at Tormarton in the County
of Gloucester in pursuance of the above lastmentioned
Scheme:
The special roads (forming the two western connecting
roads to the Tormarton roundabout on
the Bath—Lincoln Trunk Road (A.46)) along
the routes described in the Schedule to that
Scheme

You can see the contemporary OS Plan at
https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/364500 ... /10/101325

[gepree68]

In any case it also has that A407 issue doesn't it.

??? I know the screen grab is a bit indistinct, but I can read that as A432. The junction number, however, is much too long to be just "1".

David Brown posted this better picture, which shows it is definitely A407.

And you can also see the "A" from the end of junction "19A", just before it says "1m" (1 mile).

[Chris Bertram]

Yes, that's somewhat clearer. What an odd mistake to make (by the people numbering the road, that is).

[gepree68]

I have checked later in that video, and the above picture seems to confirm that, between July 1970 and May 1975, the road was indeed called M32.

Later in the video, approaching M32 J2, there do not appear to be any signs showing what junction number was given to J2.

[IrishCrusader]

Love seeing old footage of motorways when they were newly opened.
What were the original marking specs? Looks like tiny lines with massive gaps?

[Micro The Maniac]

The problem arose when they built the M25 and needed a new number for the junction with the M4. As junction 4A was already taken, they called it 4B - presumably they will follow this precedent again.

But isn't it bizarre that one of the busiest motorway junctions on the UK system carries such a secondary number?

IMHO they should have numbered it J5 and renumbered the existing J5 as J5a

[Bryn666]

The problem arose when they built the M25 and needed a new number for the junction with the M4. As junction 4A was already taken, they called it 4B - presumably they will follow this precedent again.

But isn't it bizarre that one of the busiest motorway junctions on the UK system carries such a secondary number?

IMHO they should have numbered it J5 and renumbered the existing J5 as J5a

No different to M6 J21A apart from they knew the M62 was coming when those junctions were numbered and failed to leave a gap... civil servants eh.

[gepree68]

IMHO they should have numbered [M4 J4B] as J5 and renumbered the existing J5 as J5a

Or they could have changed these M4 junction numbers:

• J4B -> J5
• J5 -> J6
• J6 -> J7
• J7 -> J8
• J8/9 -> J9