A48(M) (Port Talbot Bypass)
A48(M) | ||||||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||||||||
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From: | Margam (SS789871) | |||||||||||||||
To: | Briton Ferry (SS748923) | |||||||||||||||
Distance: | 4.3 miles (6.9 km) | |||||||||||||||
Met: | A48, A4211 | |||||||||||||||
Now part of: | M4 | |||||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||
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Junction List | ||||||||||||||||
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For spur towards Cardiff from M4 junction 29, see A48(M).
For the Morriston bypass, now M4 junctions 44 to 46, see A48(M) (Morriston Bypass).
For the unbuilt Llantrisant Radial in Cardiff, see A48(M) (Llantrisant Radial).
Originally the A48 ran through the centre of Port Talbot. In the mid-1960s it was given a bypass (with the old road renumbered A4211). Interestingly, the bypass was built as a motorway and so given the number A48(M).
Scheme
The bypass had been first proposed in 1938 when 3 schemes were investigated and the landward route was accepted as the most practicable. Design and planning work was carried out between 1949 and 1962.
Opening
It opened in two stages. The 1.5 mile westbound carriageway from Pentyla to Baglan Roundabout was opened in December 1965 and was the first length of motorway in Wales since the single carriageway was subject to motorway regulations from the outset. The 4.4 mile motorway from Groes Roundabout to Baglan Roundabout was fully opened on 22 July 1966 by Cledwyn Hughes, Secretary of State for Wales., making it the oldest motorway in Wales.
Construction
It was a dual carriageway road with continuous hard shoulders and it was reported at the time to be unique in three ways:
- construction of pillars which supported the motorway, thus enabling parts of the motorway to be lifted over homes, etc.
- undulating nature and severe bends
- lighting along the full length of the 4.4 mile motorway
It involved the demolition of 170 properties. In addition to the elevated sections which lifted the road nearly 50 feet above the rooftops, on Baglan Moors there was a 14 inch reinforced concrete raft on three thousand 17 inch concrete piles reaching nearly 70 feet through the bog over a distance of 1,300 feet. The stretches of the road on piers had a speed limit of 50 m.p.h. which was also due to the severe bends.
The lamps which were 30 feet high were canted which allowed the light to be thrown into the road. They were placed directly opposite each other and built behind safety barriers or into the supporting walls, thereby causing no obstruction to traffic.
Telephones were placed on sections of the road and were connected to Port Talbot Police Station. The telephone boxes were sited on each carriageway between Baglan Roundabout and Pentyla, Pentyla to Duffryn and Duffryn to Groes, Margam. A fog warning system was also to be fitted.
Contractors
The main contractors A.E. Farr Ltd. took three years to complete the road. Cost was £5 million which was met by the Welsh Office.
Later renumbering
The road was renumbered to M4 (its current number) in the mid-1970s, presumably to indicate that it would become part of that through route although this road was not extended (in the direction of Bridgend) until 1977. The other end of the A48(M) was a temporary terminus for many years until the River Neath was bridged in 1994, making the original northern end of the road into a mile-long spur leading to the roundabout at the northern end of J41.
Videos
Bill's Bridges - M4 Port Talbot
Construction of the A48(M) Port Talbot Bypass in 1965, showing part-opened section