Major Road Projects you have witnessed.

[Glenn A]

I can remember the Newcastle Central Motorway being built and the once important Jesmond Rd being closed off and the once busy junction at the Haymarket with the policeman directing the traffic being closed. It's odd that this part of Jesmond Rd is a hard to access side street, but until 1973, it was a very busy road.

[Richardf]

The ones I listed above are ones I saw several times during the projects, so saw them develop over time. There have been others i think I travelled on just the once so didn't count them in the original list. Been trying to remember a few. In no particular order.

A30 Goss Moor D2.
A34/M4 Cheively improvement.
A27 Arundel to Worthing D2 Upgrade
A27 Langstone Harbour roundabout GSJ
A27 Brighton Bypass D2, Final section
M5 Worcester widening D2M to D3M
A43 Silverstone Bypass D2
A50 Uttoxeter- Doveridge D2
M25 Leatherhead construction D3M

That's probably it. One or two others I'm not sure I saw in real life, or just remember following on SABRE!

[doebag]

Not a single project, but having been born and grown up within spitting distance of London's North Circular Road, then commuting on it, I wish I had taken a lot of photographs.

[Vierwielen]

One of the earliest roadworks that I witnessed was the Colenso by-pass on the N3 between Durban and Johannesburg. Although the actual bypass was a 2 km S2 road, it involved building a bridge over the Tugela River (a river which proved a major obstacle for the British forces when trying to relieve Ladysmith during the Boer War).

At the age of 10 I visited the building site regularly and got some photos from the site engineer in order to write an article for the Meccano Magazine (unfortunately the script was lost and it was never published). Brian, a boy who used to live in the house behind us was four years my junior and about ten years ago I remade contact with him. He told me that he had become friends with the site engineer's son in infant school. Afte the bridge was complete, the site engineer and family moved on. Twelve years later, when Brian finished school, he was called up to do his military service and found that he was in the same company as his old school-friend. After they finised their training, both went to university and found themselves in the same civil engineering class. Like many young men at university, their attention turned to girls and both met their future life partners who were sisters, Finally, both decided that the political scene in South Africa was going downhill, so both families emigrated to Canada as did the original site engineer.

[Ben302]

Ones I've witnessed over the years first as a passenger then a driver in numerical order

M1 Widening J6a to 10, 10-13, 13-16, 16-19, 25-29
M2 Widening A2, J4
M3 Widening 2-4 A33 to M3 conversion Phases 1 and 2 J9-11 and 11-14
M4 J3-12
M5 J18-19 and Avonmouth bridge strengthening
M6 Toll construction
M11 J8 and J8a
M20 J2-3, J5-8 Widening and J3-5 SM J8-9 construction, 9 to 13 construction
M25 construction between J8 and 11 J25-27 J3-5 and all of the widening schemes since
M27 smart motorway and J4-7 construction
A1M Alconbury to Peterborough and Dishforth-Leeming bar and Darrington Dishforth
A2 Bean Pepperhill and Rochester Way relief road, A2 to A282 freeflow and widening from M25 to M2
A3 Hindhead
A13 five bells and M25-Dagenham
A20 sidcup bypass, Extension to Dover
A21 Lamberhurst and Pembury
A21 Lamberhurst, Pembury and Tonbridge bypasses and dualling
A22/A27 Polegate bypass
A249 from M2 to Sheerness all upgrades
A74M J13-15
A229 Bluebell hill bypass
A282 widening and dartford Bridge
A289 Medway Towns northern bypass inc Medway Tunnel

[Glenn A]

I can just about remember seeing the A69 Throckley- Heddon by pass being built and the new road passing close to the old A69 and thinking how wonderful it looked with its two carriageways and big signs.

[SteveA30]

Hard to be sure about earliest but....
A322 D2 under the A30 at Bagshot - 1967/68
A30 Egham bypass dualling - 1967ish
A31 Hogs Back dualling extension
A31 Alton bypass
M3 Hampshire - 69-71. Cycling out from Fleet to watch the scrapers and dump trucks bouncing over the B3011, soon to be A323, as they carved out a path through the woods. Later, the overbridge construction. Popham tie-in with A30 and new bridge over the A33.
A34 Sutton Scotney, going through the village when the bypass was nearly done, Nov 1980. Roadworks mess at Bullington Cross new GSJ
Wareham bypass stage 1 1980. Stage 2 Sept 88
Wimborne bypass 1981
Bere Regis bypass 1982
Ferndown bypass Dec 86. Drove it on first day.
Poole Holes Bay Rd
Dorchester bypass
Bridport bypass
Charmouth bypass
Axminster bypass
Blandford bypass March 1985
A30 Whiddon Down to Okehampton 1987
A30 Okehampton 1988
A30 Oke - Liftondown March 23 1993
A30 Victoria/Goss Moor
M40 Oxford - A46 Jan 1991. Stood on bridge at Ardley to watch it opening. N/bnd first, s/bnd about 30 (?) mins later. 3 lane Police escorts both ways. Didn't phot but, I've seen vids on Youtube or somewhere.
A30 Exeter-Honiton Aug 99, Nov 99 and Feb 9 2000. Aug 99 was a rush job for the total eclipse in Cornwall.
A35 Tolpuddle bypass Dec 99 as S2. A gimmick Christmas Eve 'present' for locals, when it wasn't actually finished. I think D2 was April 2000.
Others as in pics.....

[SteveA30]

August 20 2015 - A380 Kingskerswell bypass, from Romany Jones cafe, still in business today....

March 17 2011 - A354 Weymouth relief road on opening day, about half an hour later...

Sept 10 2010 - A3 tunnel Hindhead, not on opening day.

[Barkstar]

I’ve based these around the amount of convenience or inconvenience I copped for from these. There have been loads of other smaller schemes and interminable major roadworks for non-network improvement jobs. And of course real biggies that I missed even though they are in the region - the building of the Mersey Gateway bridge didn’t impact me one bit.

These three changed regular long distance trips:
M40 Oxford to Birmingham
M25 South west corner completion
M74/A74M

Locally these have all proved helpful… eventually:
A6 Chapel en le Frith bypass
M63 north west quadrant widening
A34 Wilmslow bypass
M60 extension Stockport to Denton
M56 western extension
A55 North Wales Expressway improvements & Conwy tunnel
A523 Silk Road Macclesfield
Various schemes along the A57M Mancunian Way
M60 north west quadrant widening again
M6 Thelwall Viaduct widening
A34 Alderley Edge bypass
A556 M6 link
M6 Jct 34 improvement
M6 Cheshire/Staffs Smart motorway schemes
A555 Stockport to Manchester Airport
A523 Poynton bypass

[orudge]

Some schemes I recall:

- The widening of the B9070 on Sanday in the 1990s from S1 to S2 (hey, it was our most important road)
- Various 1990s A74(M) upgrades
- A9 Helmsdale upgrade
- M6 Carlisle to Guards Mill
- A494/A550/A5117 upgrade
- M74 completion
- M80 completion
- M8 completion, M73/M74 upgrades
- Clackmannanshire Bridge
- M9 Spur
- Queensferry Crossing
- A90/A956 Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route
- A90 Balmedie - Tipperty

No doubt others that don't come immediately to mind, but generally anything from around 2005 onwards on the corridors I may have driven!

[xnx]

A38 Derby D2 replacing old A6 bit
M42 Tamworth
A5 Tamworth D2 and extension to A38
A50 From A515 to M1 D2/3
North circular at Willesden
M1 Leeds to A1(M)
M40 from M42 to A40
M54 with the builders names still on the bridges like Monk
A51 Rugeley bypass in two stages
M5 widening Worcester
M1 widening from D2 to D3 near St Albans

[Lonewolf]

A1 Darrington to Wetherby and A1 Dishforth to Scotch Corner.

Also I had an uncle living in Anlaby in Hull years ago. Every time we went to visit, the towers of the Humber bridge were a bit higher...

[RichardA35]

Thought I'd put up my list including those I've worked on, tendered for, visited or driven though during construction although I may have missed a few.
M42 Kingsbury 
A46 Stratford Upon Avon 
A27 Chichester to Havant 
Barnstaple Bypass 
M40 Oxford to Warwick 
A13 Ferry Lane  
A14 Kettering  
A6 Burton Latimer Bypass 
A406 Hanger Lane to Harrow Road 
M25 widening J6-8 & J8-10 
A35 Tolpuddle to Puddletown 
A30 Honiton to Exeter 
A120 Stansted to Braintree 
M25 Widening J12-15 
A421 Bedford to Milton Keynes 
A453 M1-Nottm 
M4 J10 upgrade 
A30 Temple to Carblake 
A13 WIdening 
M42 Shirley to Portway
M40 Warwick to M42 
M20 Widening Maidstone 
A13 M25 to west 
A3 Hindhead 
A1 (M) Alconbury to Peterborough 
M6 Widening Thelwall 
A406 Tottenham 
M25 Widening DBFO schemes Essex Herts Kent 
A616 Stocksbridge Bypass 
M42 Solihull  
M42 Tamworth to Ashby 
M3 Popham to Winchester 
North Devon Link Tiverton to Barnstaple 
M42 to M5 
M5 Widening for M42 tie in & to Strensham 
Avonmouth Bridge strengthening 
M25 J11-13 widening 
M25 A1-M1 
A303 Ilminster 
M40 Widening M25 – High Wycombe 
A20 Folkestone 
Dartford southern approach roads 
A10 Tottenham
A14 Kettering to Huntingdon-  
A14 Catthorpe to Rothwell 
M6 widening Preston 
M1 widening M10 
A43 M40 – Oxford 
A40 Hillingdon Station 
A428 Great Barford bypass 
A41 Aston Clinton 
M42 smart motorway