£50m road to nowhere: Junction still not connected
We look forward to seeing the new junction opened to traffic once the link roads are completed and connected to the local road network
ANEW £50 million junction on the M49 still leads to a dead end months after South Gloucestershire Council said it was “working to influence” the developers to build a link road to connect it to the local road network.
Highways England finished the majority of the work on the Avonmouth junction in 2019. It was due to connect distribution centre Western Approach, used by companies including Amazon, Tesco and Lidl, to the motorway.
But the responsibility for building the connecting road which will provide access to the junction lies with the landowners – Delta Properties – according to South Gloucestershire Council.
In August 2020, the local authority said it was working to “help facilitate construction of the link road” – and more than four months on said it was still trying to “influence” construction.
“Now that Highways England has completed the junction, responsibility for building the link road to provide access to the junction from the wider road network lies solely with the landowner, Delta Properties,” a spokesperson said.
“To date, the council and other parties have been working to
Josh Hodder of Highways England
influence and facilitate construction of the link road and have been in contact with both the landowner and major employers in the area, seeking to ensure that the link is constructed in a timely manner.”
According to Highways England, design work on the link road has already started, although no date has yet been set for the construction work.
Josh Hodder, Highways England project manager for the M49 Junction scheme, said: “We have been involved in discussions with developers on each side of the junction, and we’re aware that design work has started, with the aim of starting construction on the link roads in the near future.
“We look forward to seeing the new junction opened to traffic once the link roads are completed
and connected to the local road network.”
Since completing the junction in 2019, Highways England said it had also finished remedial works, including the planting of more than 3,000 trees.
Meanwhile, South Gloucestershire Council said it had spent around £124 million on infrastructure in the region, including funding for the M49 junction, which it said would “unlock the economic potential of the Severnside area” – one of the seven Enterprise Zones and Areas in the West of England – once finished. Highways England said once the link roads have been built the regional economy would gain up to £32 for every £1 spent on building the junction.
Delta Properties declined comment when contacted. to