Why is this £50m roundabout still unused five years after completion?
The useless junction on the M49 in Avonmouth, Bristol, was completed in 2019 - but motorists who venture down it come to a dead end. Will it ever be used?
A motorway junction dubbed “Britain's most expensive dead-end” remains useless five years after it was built.
The £50m junction on the M49 near Avonmouth, Bristol, was built to reduce congestion in surrounding villages and connect the motorway to a distribution park used by firms including Tesco, Amazon and Next.
It was completed in December 2019 but motorists who venture down the junction come to a dead end… because no connecting link roads were built.
However, eight separate conditions which prevented the link road's construction were recently discharged by South Gloucestershire Council, meaning it is a step closer to finally becoming functional.
Here, Yahoo News UK explains how this debacle has unfolded.
Why wasn’t a link road included?
It's complicated.
Highways England, now National Highways, constructed the junction but not a link road. In August 2020, the BBC reported South Gloucestershire Council as saying "responsibility for building the link road... lies solely with the landowner".
At the time, then-leader Cllr Toby Savage told Yahoo News UK the situation was "absolutely ridiculous" and that the deal between Highways England and the landowner should have been "robust enough" to include the link road.
The landowner was named as Delta Properties, which in January 2021 refuted the council's claim it was responsible, saying it had "no legal obligation" to provide the link road.
In October of that year, the council then agreed to a deal with National Highways and the Department for Transport to build it.
However, the delays continued, with the council saying in 2022 that it couldn't confirm a programme of work because it is “technically complex”. Regional mayor Dan Norris said: “I am absolutely furious about it. I have made that very clear to the people I’ve spoken to, but pinning down who is actually responsible is impossible.”
The council finally granted planning permission for the new junction in November last year, with the road funded by the Department for Transport. But a start date wasn't confirmed and it remains unbuilt.
What’s happening now?
Earlier this month, eight separate conditions which prevented the commencement of construction were discharged by South Gloucestershire Council.
The council said in a statement to Yahoo News UK the scheme now "requires the acquisition of a number of privately-owned plots of land before construction work can begin".
It said negotiations are "progressing and the preparation work we’ve done in advance means that construction can start promptly, when allowed.
"We are eager to start this vital scheme to connect the M49 junction, relieve congestion on local roads and unlock the economic benefits it will bring.”
What impact has the delay had?
Villages in the vicinity of the motorway have bore the brunt of the delay, with lorries having to drive through them to access the industrial estate.
In 2021, Peter Tyzack, vice-chair of Pilning & Severn Beach Parish Council, said: "All the traffic that would be going on the motorway is coming through the villages, which is a nightmare for us."
Norris also said in 2022: “Isn’t it terrible for our region that we have all this infrastructure expenditure and for want of a decent bit of foresight and planning, we don’t have a motorway junction that could work and alleviate those pressures on local communities around that area. Terrible."
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