M4 Morriston Bypass - Opened as M4.

[M4Simon]

Some time ago, I obtained a copy of the inauguration booklet for the M4 Morriston Bypass from the daughter of someone who worked on the project. Apart from the civil engineering details and photos within it, it provides evidence that this road was planned and constructed as part of the western extension of the M4 from Newport, and that it opened as M4 on 16th September 1972. This is contrary to information on the SABRE wiki and elsewhere on the internet that makes the claim that it was planned and built as A48(M).

I have begun the process of enhancing the A48(M) (Morriston Bypass) article, but it needs a more fundamental change, in that the entire page needs to be renamed as M4 (Morriston Bypass), with the A48(M) Morriston Bypass page providing a redirect to the correctly named article. If someone who knows the process for doing this could help, I am happy to upload more of the opening brochure and add more to the article.

Simon

[Ross Spur]

Good to have some evidence of the opening. It is described as the East of Llansamlet - LLangyfelach Special Roads scheme in The Gazette notice of 14 February 1969 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/iss ... /page/1709 for anyone looking to find it. It does not mention any road number.

I haven't found a notice of opening in The Gazette, but there was a Land Compensation Act notice, much later, on 16 July 1981 in the Port Talbot Guardian. Here it is described as M4 Morriston Bypass with a date of opening of 24 August 1972. This suggests that the motorway was opened to traffic before the official opening on 16 September 1972. Of course there is the possibility that the LCA notice date was wrong, especially after such a time, and it is a bit strange that the 25 August 1972 Neath Guardian reported that every effort was being made to open the motorway before the August Bank Holiday, if it had been opened the day before.

The OS Quarter inch map revised to August 1972 shows it as M4.

[M4Simon]

Good to have some evidence of the opening. It is described as the East of Llansamlet - LLangyfelach Special Roads scheme in The Gazette notice of 14 February 1969 https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/iss ... /page/1709 for anyone looking to find it. It does not mention any road number.

I haven't found a notice of opening in The Gazette, but there was a Land Compensation Act notice, much later, on 16 July 1981 in the Port Talbot Guardian. Here it is described as M4 Morriston Bypass with a date of opening of 24 August 1972. This suggests that the motorway was opened to traffic before the official opening on 16 September 1972. Of course there is the possibility that the LCA notice date was wrong, especially after such a time, and it is a bit strange that the 25 August 1972 Neath Guardian reported that every effort was being made to open the motorway before the August Bank Holiday, if it had been opened the day before.

The OS Quarter inch map revised to August 1972 shows it as M4.

Thanks, this is very helpful. I've added some of this to the wiki article, but not the bit about the Port Talbot Guardian. My thoughts on that are that the August bank holiday was Monday 28th August, with the Port Talbot Guardian being published on Friday 25th. It is conceivable that the article was written the day before, for publication on the Friday, at a time when the motorway hadn't yet been opened for the bank holiday weekend.

The fact they called it the Inauguration rather than Opening does suggest it opened before 16th September.

I would have been 3 at the time. I don't remember it being built, but I have clear memories of Llangyfelach Interchange when it was a flat roundabout, as well as of the sign showing London 191 miles - a clear statement of intent to complete the motorway through Wales.

Simon

[M4Simon]

I have begun the process of enhancing the A48(M) (Morriston Bypass) article, but it needs a more fundamental change, in that the entire page needs to be renamed as M4 (Morriston Bypass), with the A48(M) Morriston Bypass page providing a redirect to the correctly named article. If someone who knows the process for doing this could help, I am happy to upload more of the opening brochure and add more to the article.

I have moved the page to M4 Morriston Bypass and there is a link on the A48(M) page to redirect. The infobox is incorrect, but I don't have time to change that at the moment.

Simon

[Steven]

This is contrary to information on the SABRE wiki and elsewhere on the internet that makes the claim that it was planned and built as A48(M).

Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect, and does not take into account the remaining evidence.

What is clear is that the Morriston Bypass did indeed open as M4, and was planned as being later included in the full extent of the M4. Of that, there is no question. However, it is unerringly referred to in official documentation as A48(M) Morriston Bypass up until the end of 1970, and occasionally beyond that point. The claim that it was planned as A48(M) is therefore entirely true.

This is an incredibly similar story to other short bypass motorways that were planned and constructed around this time - for example, the A8(M) Renfrew Bypass has an almost identical story where the opening booklet unerringly uses "M8", but all documentation prior consistently uses "A8(M)".

1970-71 marks the changeover in the inconsistently applied policy between short sections of motorways being allocated "temporary" numbers in the meantime before then being joined up and reallocated part of the main motorway.

Moving the page away from the specifically allocated number now adds inconsistency to the standard approach historically taken within the SABRE Wiki - and if this needs moving to "M4 Morriston Bypass", then so do all the others. And in theory, they should be a sub-page of the main one, so "M4/Morriston Bypass" would be more appropriate anyway.

[WHBM]

I haven't found a notice of opening in The Gazette, but there was a Land Compensation Act notice, much later, on 16 July 1981 in the Port Talbot Guardian. Here it is described as M4 Morriston Bypass with a date of opening of 24 August 1972. This suggests that the motorway was opened to traffic before the official opening on 16 September 1972. Of course there is the possibility that the LCA notice date was wrong, especially after such a time, and it is a bit strange that the 25 August 1972 Neath Guardian reported that every effort was being made to open the motorway before the August Bank Holiday, if it had been opened the day before.

This sort of thing is not unknown, where the "official ceremony" of opening gets separated from the start of usage. The reverse can happen, where the ceremony is after it is in use.

The most recent example was the Elizabeth Line opening, where HM The Queen did the ceremony on 17 May 2022 (and the plaques say 'officially opened on 17 May'), while the first passengers were allowed in a week later, 24 May, which of course was also described in the media as 'opened today'.

[M4Simon]

This is contrary to information on the SABRE wiki and elsewhere on the internet that makes the claim that it was planned and built as A48(M).

Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect, and does not take into account the remaining evidence.

What is clear is that the Morriston Bypass did indeed open as M4, and was planned as being later included in the full extent of the M4. Of that, there is no question. However, it is unerringly referred to in official documentation as A48(M) Morriston Bypass up until the end of 1970, and occasionally beyond that point. The claim that it was planned as A48(M) is therefore entirely true.

This is an incredibly similar story to other short bypass motorways that were planned and constructed around this time - for example, the A8(M) Renfrew Bypass has an almost identical story where the opening booklet unerringly uses "M8", but all documentation prior consistently uses "A8(M)".

1970-71 marks the changeover in the inconsistently applied policy between short sections of motorways being allocated "temporary" numbers in the meantime before then being joined up and reallocated part of the main motorway.

Moving the page away from the specifically allocated number now adds inconsistency to the standard approach historically taken within the SABRE Wiki - and if this needs moving to "M4 Morriston Bypass", then so do all the others. And in theory, they should be a sub-page of the main one, so "M4/Morriston Bypass" would be more appropriate anyway.

Fair enough! I'll sort it later when not on my phone.

Simon

[M4Simon]

This is contrary to information on the SABRE wiki and elsewhere on the internet that makes the claim that it was planned and built as A48(M).

Unfortunately, this statement is incorrect, and does not take into account the remaining evidence.

What is clear is that the Morriston Bypass did indeed open as M4, and was planned as being later included in the full extent of the M4. Of that, there is no question. However, it is unerringly referred to in official documentation as A48(M) Morriston Bypass up until the end of 1970, and occasionally beyond that point. The claim that it was planned as A48(M) is therefore entirely true.

This is an incredibly similar story to other short bypass motorways that were planned and constructed around this time - for example, the A8(M) Renfrew Bypass has an almost identical story where the opening booklet unerringly uses "M8", but all documentation prior consistently uses "A8(M)".

1970-71 marks the changeover in the inconsistently applied policy between short sections of motorways being allocated "temporary" numbers in the meantime before then being joined up and reallocated part of the main motorway.

Moving the page away from the specifically allocated number now adds inconsistency to the standard approach historically taken within the SABRE Wiki - and if this needs moving to "M4 Morriston Bypass", then so do all the others. And in theory, they should be a sub-page of the main one, so "M4/Morriston Bypass" would be more appropriate anyway.

Fair enough! I'll sort it later when not on my phone.

Simon

I've reverted it back to A48(M) Morriston Bypass.

I've been trawling the internet looking for evidence of the road being planned as A48(M), and Hansard has a number of references.
Hansard 1970-11-10 lists a number of A48(M)s, namely
Schemes in preparation:

• A48 (M) Llantrisant Radial 5·00
• A48 (M) Pontardulais Bypass 8·00

Motorways firmly Programmed Nil

Motorways under Construction

• A48 (M) Morriston Bypass 4·00

Motorways in Use

• A48 (M) Port Talbot Bypass

By May 1971, all the A48(M) schemes are referred to as M4 except the Llantrisant Radial which is stated as being of lower priority (5 months later it was now proposed as a future primary distributor road), and the Port Talbot Bypass which by ths stage had been open for 5 years.

Earlier references in Hansard to the Morriston Bypass refer (in 1967 and 1968) as being the A48 (no M). What other documents are there that refer to the A48(M) Morriston Bypass? Are there, for example, Welsh Office reports, drawings, consultation documents or published orders that refer to the A48(M)? The Gazette does not appear to include any number on the Special Road orders.

Everything that I've read suggests that while the idea of the Morriston Bypass has been around since the 1930s, the decision to build it as a motorway came after it was added to the Welsh Office programme in 1965 ish - if Hansard is to be believed then after February 1968. By 1970 it was referred to as M4. It was clearly referred to as A48(M) in the parliamentary record, but if that is enough to confirm it was originally planned as A48(M), should we also be referring to the Pontardulais bypass in the same way?

Hansard seems a little inconsistent (perhaps that should read that the politicians seem a little inconsistent...), so I am left feeling that there is still some important documentation that I haven't seen which would help settle this in my mind.

I found an interesting report of an interview with the chief engineer for the Morriston Bypass - Henry Steane (published September 2022 around the 50th anniversary of the road. There is a picture of the scheme board for the project showing it as M4.

Simon

[Steven]

Firstly, thank you Simon. This whole discussion has got me wandering down research rabbit holes which I'd almost forgotten just how enjoyable they can be!

So, I went looking for your "smoking gun" document - the one that would give you that comfy warm feeling. There wasn't one - but there is lots of different documents for which the story can be put together, and the final clue related to a completely unrelated road to the Morriston Bypass in all but number - the A48(M) Llantrisant Radial; though it also takes in some other questions like, "why is the A48 Cowbridge Bypass so large?". I also discovered in my research references to the A48(M) Pyle Bypass, which was new to me, so I dug further.

The story (so far) of the numbering confusion starts in July 1967, with the publication of Wales: The Way Ahead. This Command Paper was written all about the future of Wales, not just about the road network - but clearly Communications is a large part of it.

An example of one new road that is required is one from the present termination of the M4 Motorway to the Bridgend area, referred to in paragraph 53(b) below. This would serve a useful purpose in providing an outer by-pass to Cardiff, in relieving congestion on the A48 road between Cardiff and Bridgend, and in speeding up communications with West South Wales.

(a) providing dual carriageways along most of the A48/A40 road as far west as St. Clears;
(b) a new road from the existing end of the M4 Motorway to the Bridgend area, providing an outer by-pass to Cardiff

So what's clear from those two extracts (which matches documents in the National Archives that say or suggest similar) is that the M4 west of Newport wasn't fully planned in July 1967. Instead, what was planned was an upgrade to the A48 to Carmarthen, and then the A40 west to St. Clears. This can also be seen in the below map extract from the document, where it's clear that improvement to the A48 was the preferred option at that time (hence the Cowbridge Bypass):

So, I jumped back a step, and took a look at the Welsh roads programme for 1967.

In South Wales the project which will do most to open up for new industrial development the area of the South Wales coalfield most affected by the programme of pit closures is the extension through mid Glamorgan of the M.4 from its present terminal at Tredegar Park, west of Newport. Between Tredegar Park and Swansea and the West the greatest obstacle remaining to the smooth passage of traffic is the congested centre of Cardiff. A new road built to motorway standards, by-passing the city to the north, passing near the developing areas of Llantrisant and Bridgend and eventually linking with the Pyle By-pass (which is already included in the " Preparation Pool ") and the existing Port Talbot Motorway By-pass would provide a new spine to strengthen and sustain the changing industrial life of the most densely-populated area of the Principality.

The line of a new road through mid Glamorgan which would serve this purpose has for some time been shown in the County Development Plan. In view of its undoubted importance in the future the Secretary of State announced in the Welsh Day Debate on 30th November that the Government had decided to assume responsibility for its protection. In the meantime work would start as soon as practicable on the preparation of a scheme for a new dual carriageway road from the Gabalfa Interchange (the western terminal of Eastern Avenue) by-passing West Cardiff and serving the mouths of the Glamorgan Valleys. Part of this road from south-east of Llantrisant towards Bridgend would eventually be incorporated into the M.4 extension.

This is the first mention of the M4 motorway extending west of Newport, and talks about protecting the line of the road through Glamorgan before meeting the Port Talbot Bypass. There's no mention of the motorway going further west than Port Talbot, but included in the Road Programme itself, within the "Trunk Roads" section is indeed the A48 Morriston By-Pass (and the A48 Pyle By-Pass). Note that as neither are listed within the "Motorways" section (which is just the sections of the M4 from the Severn Bridge to the end of the Newport Bypass), that it can be surmised with high probability that at that point the Morriston Bypass was indeed proposed as an all-purpose road.


So, let's step forward a year into looking at the Welsh road programme in 1968.

And here we have it - the Morriston Bypass proposal has now been upgraded to motorway (as has the Pontardulais Bypass), but unlike the sections to the east, they're both clearly numbered as A48 but still as motorway. This format isn't uncommon in reports from the time to see as a shorthand because it's part of the A48 Trunk Road, so in this case for A48(M); which is exactly in line with how the Ax(M) numbering was designed to work from the outset.

What can also be seen is that the Morriston Bypass is a higher priority to all the others, as it's the only one in the firm programme. Interestingly, the A48 Pyle Bypass is still in there further down in the table, just listed as an all-purpose road still.

Within the body of the document, it confirms the motorway status of the Morriston Bypass

London-Fishguard Trunk Road (A.48/A.40)
[...]
Proposals for the line of the Morriston By-pass, which is to be built as a motorway, were published on 24th May. Objections were still being examined at the end of the year.

Then further down, there's a really interesting map.

This clearly show that there was an intermediate stage in the proposals for the M4 through Glamorgan, where traffic would use Eastern Avenue and the Llantrisant Radial to pass through Cardiff, and the A473 would be widened to meet the A48 at Bridgend; with what we know today as the M4 in the middle. This also explains why the M4 was constructed in the order it was.


So, let's jump ahead another year to the 1969 road programme:

In South Wales further substantial progress was made in implementing the strategy for improving communications along the line of the M.4/A.48 road; in April the Secretary of State announced that he had set a target date of 1972-73 for a start of work on the Cardiff Intermediate By-Pass from the north of Cardiff to Bridgend.



London-Fishguard Trunk Road (A. 48/A .40)
[...]
Statutory Orders were made fixing the line of the Morriston By-pass Motorway which will extend from the Lonlas Roundabout on A.48 to Llangyfelach By-pass. A contract for £385,249 was let in September for advance works preparatory to the letting of the main contract in 1970.
[...]
Preparatory work continued on the following schemes [...] Cardiff Intermediate By-pass, which will provide a continuous length of dual carriageway road to motorway or near motorway standard from the Gabalfa Interchange in Cardiff to the Waterton Roundabout on A.48 at Bridgend; the extension of the M.4 motorway from Tredegar Park to St. Mellons; the Pyle By-pass (motorway); the Pontardulais By-pass (motorway)

Note that the Pyle Bypass is now also listed as a motorway section of the A48, hence A48(M), and that there's still no real firm concept of the M4 west of Bridgend.


Then in 1970, everything changes.

Further west, work started on the Morriston By-pass which is part of the M4 Motorway.

That's a bit sudden! So, let's see what is said further on in the document.

Extension of M4 Motorway
The Government re-affirmed their intention to provide a dual carriageway road to motorway or near motorway standard from the Western terminal of the M4 Motorway at Tredegar Park, Newport, to the Swansea area by 1976. It is hoped by this date to have completed the improvement to Pont Abraham, beyond Pontardulais.

In August a contract was let for the construction of the 4 mile-long Morriston By-pass which will form part of the M4 Motorway. Preparatory work continued on schemes to provide further sections of the M4 between Tredegar Park and St. Mellons, Llanilltern and Pencoed, Bridgend Northern By-Pass, Pyle By-pass and Pontardulais By-pass. The total length of these schemes is almost 41 miles.

On 24 April, 1970 a draft order under the Highways Act 1959 was published proposing the "River Route" for the Llantrisant Radial Motorway from Gabalfa, Cardiff to Llanilltern, Glamorgan.

In April 1971, the Government announced the addition to the Trunk Road Preparation Pool of the M4 Cardiff Outer By-Pass running from St. Mellons east of Cardiff to Capel Llanilltern, Glamorgan. The question of how the Llantrisant Radial Road would fit in with the Planning of West Cardiff is to be discussed with the Cardiff City Council.

Constructional work continued throughout the year on the three-level interchange between Western Avenue and the A470 Cardiff-Merthyr road at Gabalfa, Cardiff. In February, a contract was let for Stage 2 of the Cardiff Inner By-pass (Eastern Avenue) between St. Mellons and Gabalfa. Work is expected to take about two years to complete.

And here we have it, and all the dates tie up completely with those elsewhere - in April 1971, the plan became to extend the M4 to its present western terminus along its current route; which is why from before that date all references to the Morriston Bypass (and the others...) are A48/A48(M), and after that date is M4.

[Steven]

So, two things follow up from that lot.

Firstly, a few months ago there was a discussion about Stormy Down being a temporary M4 terminus with the A48. We decided that it wasn't, but for some reason that is where construction ended somewhere in the middle of a field. This bit is supposition, but given that the A48(M) Pyle Bypass is listed as an entirely separate project until the final decision on the M4 going west of Bridgend, I wonder if this seemingly random bit of construction ending at the A48 was because the A48(M) Pyle Bypass would have started there, so it was easier contractually for the ghost of this proposal to show up?


Secondly, the Wiki page, and whether we should have separate pages for the A48(M) Pyle Bypass and the A48(M) Pontardulais Bypass? I would say not specifically, not unless a commercial map turns up with them on - to find them you must dig through some rather dry archival documentation, but there's no reason why their existence can't be mentioned on the M4 page (and possibly even the A48(M) Cardiff Spur one...)

[M4Simon]

So, two things follow up from that lot.

Firstly, a few months ago there was a discussion about Stormy Down being a temporary M4 terminus with the A48. We decided that it wasn't, but for some reason that is where construction ended somewhere in the middle of a field. This bit is supposition, but given that the A48(M) Pyle Bypass is listed as an entirely separate project until the final decision on the M4 going west of Bridgend, I wonder if this seemingly random bit of construction ending at the A48 was because the A48(M) Pyle Bypass would have started there, so it was easier contractually for the ghost of this proposal to show up?


Secondly, the Wiki page, and whether we should have separate pages for the A48(M) Pyle Bypass and the A48(M) Pontardulais Bypass? I would say not specifically, not unless a commercial map turns up with them on - to find them you must dig through some rather dry archival documentation, but there's no reason why their existence can't be mentioned on the M4 page (and possibly even the A48(M) Cardiff Spur one...)

Thanks for two very helpful and informative posts, which I need to read in more detail. I agree that the Pyle bypass construction ended to the east of J37 just east of the A48 bridge in 1977. There was an All Traffic turn left ADS and a lane drop on the right hand side of the eastbound carriageway to reduce from three to two lanes to take all traffic off the motorway at junction 37, but you could see the unused motorway continue east up the hill to the A48 bridge in the distance. You could also look west from the A48 bridge along the motorway to J37 and beyond, but I don't remember there being much to see east of that bridge until the Bridgend bypass started construction, probably around 1980ish.

The contractual question is a curious thing - usually public bodies avoid building anything they don't need to in order to save money. I wonder whether in fact, the reason was that as the M4 was built, more traffic was attracted to the corridor, and the disruption caused by building a new underbridge on the A48 once the onward motorway was built would have been worse had they waited until after the Pyle Bypass was complete.

I'll look more closely at all this later.

Simon

The A48(M) Pyle Bypass was mentioned in one of the Hansard links I posted. I agree about it not having its own page as the A48(M) Pyle Bypass (ditto A48(M) Pontardulais Bypass) as the A48(M) number did not appear on any map with respect to these two schemes.

[roadtester]

Thank you to Steven and Simon for some really interesting information. I thought I'd have a quick google to see if there was any more information out there - sorry if this is veering a bit off-subject - and discovered that the Morriston bypass has a Canadian namesake: https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/province-m ... %20bridges.

[M4Simon]

One of the things that surprises me about all of this is the speed at which the Morriston Bypass progressed. It seems to have moved from a (presumably dualled) all purpose road scheme in 1967 to a motorway, with the addition of hardshoulders, comms and possibly junction amendments, then to get it through the necessary orders, then into detailed design and procurement so that advanced works could begin in 1969. By any standard that is quick, though I note that the UK Motorway Archive makes the timescale even shorter.

It was programmed in 1969 and only later was it designated to be built to motorway standards as part of the M4. The protection of the route proved to be an advantage, for very few properties were affected and there were few objections. Efforts could therefore be centred on technical preparation and contractual work.

I'm really not sure about the timings in the archive - programmed in 1969 yet the inauguration brochure has the first contract let in October 1969 - allow at least three months for the tender process and award, and also a period for design. Even allowing for the lack of objections, this doesn't seem right to me.

Simon

[Chris5156]

This has been a thoroughly fascinating read - thank you Simon and Steven for all this research and new information. What a patchwork quilt the M4 in South Wales is.

One of the things that surprises me about all of this is the speed at which the Morriston Bypass progressed. It seems to have moved from a (presumably dualled) all purpose road scheme in 1967 to a motorway, with the addition of hardshoulders, comms and possibly junction amendments, then to get it through the necessary orders, then into detailed design and procurement so that advanced works could begin in 1969. By any standard that is quick, though I note that the UK Motorway Archive makes the timescale even shorter.

It is remarkably fast, but then the late 1960s were the wild west in motorway planning terms - things seemed to progress very fast on some schemes. It reminds me of the planning of what is now M25 J23-25, which accelerated at light speed through the planning process in the space of about four years, in which time it was transformed from a single carriageway road to a dual three-lane motorway, passing through several other intermediate stages on the way.

[Steven]

One of the things that surprises me about all of this is the speed at which the Morriston Bypass progressed. It seems to have moved from a (presumably dualled) all purpose road scheme in 1967 to a motorway, with the addition of hardshoulders, comms and possibly junction amendments, then to get it through the necessary orders, then into detailed design and procurement so that advanced works could begin in 1969. By any standard that is quick, though I note that the UK Motorway Archive makes the timescale even shorter.

It was programmed in 1969 and only later was it designated to be built to motorway standards as part of the M4. The protection of the route proved to be an advantage, for very few properties were affected and there were few objections. Efforts could therefore be centred on technical preparation and contractual work.

I'm really not sure about the timings in the archive - programmed in 1969 yet the inauguration brochure has the first contract let in October 1969 - allow at least three months for the tender process and award, and also a period for design. Even allowing for the lack of objections, this doesn't seem right to me.

Yeah, they're definitely wrong, and even if they mean "programmed to start in" rather than "programmed in", it's still not right.

Three additional trunk road schemes to be started in 1968-69 (Morriston By-pass), 1969-70 (Glynneath By-pass) and 1970-71 (a new road between Aberdulais and Llandarcy) were accordingly announced on 22nd November [1965].

Your thoughts about it being added to the Trunk Road programme in 1965(ish) turns out to be spot-on.

One other thing that I didn't know regarding an A48(M) also comes out of the above Command Paper, but this time about the Port Talbot Bypass:

London-Fishguard Trunk Road (A .48) west of Cardiff
600. Satisfactory progress was maintained on the Port Talbot By-Pass and the section from Pentyla to Baglan roundabout, a length of 12 miles, was opened to traffic towards the end of the year. It was the first length of motorway to be opened in Wales. This section of the By-Pass is carrying west bound traffic between Pentyla and the Baglan roundabout, east bound traffic continuing to use the existing Baglan Road for the time being. The rest of the By-Pass from Baglan to Groes is expected to be opened to traffic in the Spring of 1966.

I had absolutely no clue that it opened westbound well before it opened eastbound!

[M4Simon]

One of the things that surprises me about all of this is the speed at which the Morriston Bypass progressed. It seems to have moved from a (presumably dualled) all purpose road scheme in 1967 to a motorway, with the addition of hardshoulders, comms and possibly junction amendments, then to get it through the necessary orders, then into detailed design and procurement so that advanced works could begin in 1969. By any standard that is quick, though I note that the UK Motorway Archive makes the timescale even shorter.

It was programmed in 1969 and only later was it designated to be built to motorway standards as part of the M4. The protection of the route proved to be an advantage, for very few properties were affected and there were few objections. Efforts could therefore be centred on technical preparation and contractual work.

I'm really not sure about the timings in the archive - programmed in 1969 yet the inauguration brochure has the first contract let in October 1969 - allow at least three months for the tender process and award, and also a period for design. Even allowing for the lack of objections, this doesn't seem right to me.

Yeah, they're definitely wrong, and even if they mean "programmed to start in" rather than "programmed in", it's still not right.

Three additional trunk road schemes to be started in 1968-69 (Morriston By-pass), 1969-70 (Glynneath By-pass) and 1970-71 (a new road between Aberdulais and Llandarcy) were accordingly announced on 22nd November [1965].

An advanced work contract did start in 1969, so they were pretty close to the mark on that.

Your thoughts about it being added to the Trunk Road programme in 1965(ish) turns out to be spot-on.

I think that came from the Inauguration booklet - it's roughly when the Welsh Office took on roads from the Department for Transport, or whatever it was called then).

One other thing that I didn't know regarding an A48(M) also comes out of the above Command Paper, but this time about the Port Talbot Bypass:

London-Fishguard Trunk Road (A .48) west of Cardiff
600. Satisfactory progress was maintained on the Port Talbot By-Pass and the section from Pentyla to Baglan roundabout, a length of 12 miles, was opened to traffic towards the end of the year. It was the first length of motorway to be opened in Wales. This section of the By-Pass is carrying west bound traffic between Pentyla and the Baglan roundabout, east bound traffic continuing to use the existing Baglan Road for the time being. The rest of the By-Pass from Baglan to Groes is expected to be opened to traffic in the Spring of 1966.

I had absolutely no clue that it opened westbound well before it opened eastbound!

The length looks wrong - Pentyla to Baglan is about 1.5 miles and the whole A48(M) was nowhere near 12 miles long. I assume it was intended to read as 1.2 miles, but I can't get that measurement by measuring from the original J41 westbound on-slip to Baglan roundabout - that comes up at 1.5 miles.

I'd picked up a hint of this from reading Hansard the other night, but it wasn't clear to me which bit had opened, just that one carriageway was opened ahead of the other.

When the Pyle bypass was built, the eastbound A48(M) was diverted along the new motorway alignment to junction 38 while the original eastbound approach to the J39 roundabout was removed and replaced with a retaining wall carrying the future westbound M4. So it is also true that a section of the eastbound Pyle Bypass opened to traffic several months ahead of the westbound carriageway. If I recall correctly, it had a very unfinished look about it, but as I said in the Stormy Down thread, this means there was a short-lived eastbound temporary terminus at J38.

And would you believe it - my 10,000th post on SABRE and I'm talking about the stuff that got me interested in roads in the first place - my childhood memories of the M4 being built across South Wales.

Simon

[Steven]

One other thing that I didn't know regarding an A48(M) also comes out of the above Command Paper, but this time about the Port Talbot Bypass:

London-Fishguard Trunk Road (A .48) west of Cardiff
600. Satisfactory progress was maintained on the Port Talbot By-Pass and the section from Pentyla to Baglan roundabout, a length of 12 miles, was opened to traffic towards the end of the year. It was the first length of motorway to be opened in Wales. This section of the By-Pass is carrying west bound traffic between Pentyla and the Baglan roundabout, east bound traffic continuing to use the existing Baglan Road for the time being. The rest of the By-Pass from Baglan to Groes is expected to be opened to traffic in the Spring of 1966.

I had absolutely no clue that it opened westbound well before it opened eastbound!

The length looks wrong - Pentyla to Baglan is about 1.5 miles and the whole A48(M) was nowhere near 12 miles long. I assume it was intended to read as 1.2 miles, but I can't get that measurement by measuring from the original J41 westbound on-slip to Baglan roundabout - that comes up at 1.5 miles.

Yes, the original document reads 1 1/2 miles, so it's my typo.

[Bryn666]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOG3DYSKkb0

Footage of M4 sign and "London 191" here.

[M4Simon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOG3DYSKkb0

Footage of M4 sign and "London 191" here.

Thanks Bryn. There is a screen grab of the sign in the galleries and it is also on the wiki page for the Moriston Bypass. You have to be quick, but there is also footage of the western entry to the new motorway complete with 70 sign and the NO...board. You can see enough to note that it has quite a bend on it as it reaches the current line of the eastbound M4. This section of carriageway lasted until late 1976/early 1977 - a mere four years of use - when it was dug up following completion of the first of the two bridges over the motorway.

Simon

[M4Simon]

One other thing that I didn't know regarding an A48(M) also comes out of the above Command Paper, but this time about the Port Talbot Bypass:



I had absolutely no clue that it opened westbound well before it opened eastbound!

The length looks wrong - Pentyla to Baglan is about 1.5 miles and the whole A48(M) was nowhere near 12 miles long. I assume it was intended to read as 1.2 miles, but I can't get that measurement by measuring from the original J41 westbound on-slip to Baglan roundabout - that comes up at 1.5 miles.

Yes, the original document reads 1 1/2 miles, so it's my typo.

A48M-PTB-1965.JPG

Looks good. I appeared to know about this back in 2017, but I'd forgotten about it. Wrinkly (same thread) found it in Hansard - May 1966, which is the entry I saw the other night.

My post includes this video (found by Bryn) showing the partially opened A48(M) around Port Talbot.
. I might even have used the word Sheesh later in that thread.

Simon