St Georges Interchange

This article is about M5 junction 20 for Weston-super-Mare.
For junction 24A of the A55 in Denbighshire, see St Georges Interchange (Denbighshire).

The St Georges Interchange, M5 junction 21, provides the main access to the M5 for the town of Weston-super-Mare. Southbound traffic can also access the motorway at Edithmead Interchange, but that is a lengthy route, especially for the bulk of residents as it means passing through the town centre.

In the 1990s, the A370 was dualled from the motorway into the town centre to improve the connection. Since then, the population has increased dramatically, with huge sprawling estates built around Worle and the surrounding area. A large proportion of these people commute to Bristol for work, and so pass through this junction twice a day. It is therefore little surprise that it is busy!

Sliproads

The southbound offslip from the M5 is one of the longest in the country, and recently seems to have been extended even further by utilising some of the extra-wide central reservation for the main carriageways. At peak times, even these long slips can be full of queuing traffic, waiting for the lights to let them onto the roundabout. Northbound traffic leaving the M5 does not have this luxury, and at peak times the queues can extend onto the main carriageway, such is the volume of circulating traffic.

The reason for this extra long slip is possibly related to the unrealised Weston Spur. However, it may simply have been a tacit acknowledgement by the original engineers that this was going to be a busy junction.

Future Plans

It is widely recognised that this junction is not fit for purpose anymore. Various proposals over the years have come and gone, starting with the Weston Spur back in the 1970s. The construction of a J21a at Locking, where the A371 crosses the motorway has also been put forward, but not progressed. In recent years, development has reached almost to the motorway boundary, so preventing the construction of dedicated A370-M5 slips bypassing the roundabout altogether. For now, it seems, we just have to put up with it.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M5	The Midlands, South Wales, Bristol
M5	The South West, Taunton, Exeter
A370	Weston-s-Mare, Wells (A371), West Wick, Banwell
A370	Bristol & Airport, Congressbury
Weston Spur	Weston-s-Mare