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Filton Bypass

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Filton Bypass
Location Map ( geo)
Highwood Road reaches Patchway - Geograph - 2155425.jpg
Highwood Road, the remaining northern stub of the Bypass
Cameraicon.png View gallery (1)
From:  Patchway (ST605817)
To:  Upper Knole (ST586797)
County
Gloucestershire
Opening Date
1938
On road(s)
B4057

The Filton Bypass was originally envisaged as a strategic route to provide a faster route for traffic from the north into Bristol, and with a link to Avonmouth and the Docks. In reality it became a diversionary road to replace a road closed by an extension to Filton Aerodrome, only to be closed some years later by a further extension to the same airfield! However, it may have had some bearing on the motorway route at Bristol.

Route

From the A38 at Patchway railway bridge the new road ran south westwards to pass to the east of Charlton. From here existing roads were used: Charlton Lane to meet Passage Road. Then the Westbury on Trym bypass (Falcondale Road) and Westbury Road along the Downs to pass south of Bristol City Centre.

History

Early Plans

It was mentioned in the Town Plans Inquiry in 1926, although it was stated that it would depend on when landowners started developments. Sounds familiar? You will see a change of tune later. In 1930 it was included in the 5 year plan at a cost of £92,000, but in 1932 the Government Grants were withdrawn and the Council decided not to proceed.

A new impetus

B4057 Hayes Lane would have been a nuisance to the northwards extension to the aerodrome

In the Summer of 1935 the R.A.F. planned a northwards extension to Filton Aerodrome. The airfield at that time was a much more modest affair than the later behemoth, and was sited between Charlton and the A38 between Filton and Patchway. You will have to look at old maps to find Charlton since it was swallowed up by a later airfield extension. A pattern is thus emerging.

The plans came before Thornbury Rural District Council and it was reported on 3 August 1935. It was proposed to extend the military airfield northwards, and the R.A.F. did not want to find itself in a position such as arose at Croydon where a lane there was a perfect nuisance and caused enormous risk. The Filton aerodrome authorities wanted Hayes Lane closed before they extended the airfield so that there would not be a danger of people killed or planes being smashed up. Hayes Lane ran from Charlton generally eastwards to the A38 at a crossroads with B4057 Gypsy Patch Lane.

There was a replacement road in the Town Plans running from Charlton, at the west end of Hayes Lane, to the A38 by Patchway railway bridge. The council gave their consent to the closure of Hayes Lane. Consent had already been given by the parish councils of Filton and Almondsbury.

Filton Bypass, at a projected cost of £165,000, was one of a number of new road schemes adopted by Bristol City Council in 1936. The others were the Eastern and Western Roads (£805,710) and Airport Road (£202,000). Other smaller schemes would take the total spend up to £2 million.

Access appeal

An owner of land to the north of the new road at Patchway had development plans for a housing estate of between 3000 and 5000 houses but Gloucestershire County Council refused access onto the new road, under the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act 1935. They directed that access should only be by way of the new roundabout where the bypass joined A38. The owner appealed and a Ministry of Transport Enquiry was held on 18 February 1937. Mr Jennings had bought the Northville and Calliscroft Estates in 1930 and had said that in September 1933 there had been no question of any undue restriction as to access, although the matter had been under negotiation for some time and he had not been able to proceed with the development of the estate. He wanted three access points.

The County Council countered that the access points created danger spots and would make the bypass just the sort of road the authority was trying to avoid. The Filton Bypass was intended to provide a fast easy means by which the vast traffic from the Midlands and the North could get to Avonmouth and the South without having to pass through congested Bristol. It was not fair to spend great sums of money on a scheme which, if side roads were made, would defeat its own object.

The local inquiry details were passed to the Minister of Transport who directed in May 1937 that the County Council give consent to two access points onto the bypass. He noted that it would also mean that those who wished to inspect the Aerodrome at Patchway, which they were now extending, would be able to do from the highest part of the bypass road upon which a place had been reserved specially for cars to park for that purpose.

Construction and opening

The ground was being prepared for an extension of the bypass road near to Charlton in May 1937 when two aeroplanes, which had collided mid-air, crashed nearby. The workers rushed to give aid.

The new road is open... but not for long

In February 1938 it was noted that the sum to be received from Ministry of Transport for the new road was £6,000 short of the sum to be expended. Alderman J.H. Alpass thought that the work was being done for the Ministry and that they should pay the whole of the cost. It was pointed out that the road was not yet classified as a trunk road and could not be classified until the existing trunk road (A38) had been de-classified. The ring road scheme had been raised before the Trunk Road Act came into being.

An advert on 16 April 1938 for a garage, service and filling station site, also one suitable for tea gardens, heavy lorry halt (on a large scale) on the new bypass road at Patchway stated it must be ready for Easter, ready for a large flow of traffic. This would indicate that Easter was the planned opening date for the new bypass. Maybe it was a repeat advert that had continued since the 16 April was already Easter Saturday.

The road appears on the Ordnance Survey 1938 5th Series Map. Only the northern part from Patchway to Charlton is shown as classified, this being B4057 which continued from Charlton through Henbury to join B4054 as a route to Avonmouth. The southern part of the new bypass road remained unclassified.

Some work on the road, although it may have been on improvements further south, must have continued since in December 1939 it was reported that the costs for completion were £60,000 and in February 1941 work was still ongoing.

The Avonmouth Link

This was still held up in May 1939 by the lack of grant from the Ministry. Other Bristol works held up at that time included Eastern Road improvement from Old Market Street to Stokes Croft, Cumberland Basin Bridge and Switch Road. The extension of Airport Road was to proceed.

Negotiations with the Ministry continued with the strategical importance being stressed, but this was to no avail.

“Temporary” Closure

The through road has gone, as has Charlton village

The Highways Committee of Gloucestershire County Council discussed the impending closure of the roads in the vicinity at a meeting on 2 September 1946. Alderman J.H. Alpass, M.P., asked if the County Surveyor had received any information as to the alternative routes to be provided at Charlton, following closure of the existing roads ordered by the Government in connection with the new Brabazon runway at Filton. Mr E.C. Boyce, County Surveyor said that the roads were not yet actually closed, and it was understood that they would be continued to be used until the work at the runway reached the stage that their closure was necessary. He had received no detailed proposals from the Ministry as to alternative routes. Alderman Alpass commented that “if the roads are not physically closed, they are impassable”. Mr Boyce said that the Filton Bypass was not yet scheduled for closure.

The Bypass lasted another year and on 5 February 1947 signs were put up saying “No through road. Bypass closed”. This was a few days later than the 29 January 1947 official closure date by the Ministry of Supply under the Defence Regulations.

Alternative route negotiations

In September 1948 the Ministry proposed that the closure be permanent (although with a huge runway already built across it, you would have thought the Ministry knew this to be the position from the start). It was suggested that Highwood Lane be used as an alternative until a route was agreed on. Highwood Lane ran from the bypass road (north of the new runway) to Cribbs Causeway and was a narrow winding lane, hardly attractive as a bypass route. The County Surveyor confirmed in meeting on 21 September 1948 that Highwood Lane was not a satisfactory temporary alternative and thought that the Council should not agree to a permanent closure until the Ministry had agreed to an alternative route and had actually started on its construction. There had also been a large number of accidents between Patchway and the City Boundary since closure of the bypass. It was also noted in the meeting that a census had been taken at 3 points in Gloucestershire regarding some 40 miles of motorway in the County, but there was no mention of this being a solution to the closed bypass at that stage.

In August 1950 the Minister of Transport proposed to make an order under the Civil Aviation Act 1949 to close the bypass permanently and provide for an alternative route. Objections were received so it went back to the Ministry with regard to an alternative route. In September they proposed a route starting at Almondsbury and using Over Lane to Cribbs Causeway and the route from there into Bristol. The Bristol Planning and Reconstruction Committee was mindful of the new Henbury Housing Estate which was to be completed in the next 2 years and wanted a road 60 feet wide to the City Boundary with a carriageway of 30 feet. The Ministry's obligations were to provide a road of similar standard to that of the road being closed, namely 40 feet. Any additional work would be a grant earning improvement scheme and because of the order (from the Ministry) that expenditure be kept to a minimum, the Divisional Road Engineer could not indicate whether the widening would be approved, either as a grant earning scheme or if Bristol Corporation were to bear the whole cost. The Town Clerk was instructed to write to the Ministry emphasising the desirability of a wider road being constructed.

In December 1951 the Ministry decided to re-examine the question of the alternative route. At that stage they could not say how soon it would be provided. How true this was.

Arrival of the M5

The new M5 and dual carriageway as it appeared in 1963, prior to the construction of the M4


The M5 and dual carriageway, post opening of the M4 in 1966

On 4 September 1956 the Birmingham Daily Post carried a headline “Filton Bypass sanctioned” and “Ministry Order after Ten Years”. It reported that Midlands motorists will learn with pleasure that a road to bypass Filton, Bristol and Clifton on the road to the South West Coast resorts has now received the sanction of the Minister of Transport and that work would start immediately. The new road was to be 2.5 mile long with dual 22 foot carriageways.

The motorists were probably not pleased that it took almost a further 7 years before it opened. And yes, it was the first Bristol section of the M5. The 2.25 miles from J16 Almondsbury to J17 Cribbs Causeway was opened on 31 May 1963 by Alderman Major E.E. Mealing, Chairman of Gloucestershire Highway Committee. It was built under the Gloucestershire County Council Special Road Scheme 1962, No.1 Order and later additional Orders. The OS 1 inch map revised in 1963 shows it as M5. Cost was £750,000.

With a road upgrade to dual carriageway on A4018 from Cribbs Causeway to the Westbury on Trym bypass, Filton finally had a bypass.




B4057
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Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (4)
B4057-1953.jpgHighwood Road approaching Patchway - Geograph - 2155416.jpgCottages Beacon Lane - Geograph - 2196334.jpgHighwood Road reaches Patchway - Geograph - 2155425.jpg
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