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roads.org.uk
Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@roads.org.uk
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We write about UK road infrastructure and history! Join us for updates and other stuff from the UK's favourite roads website, www.roads.org.uk
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roads.org.uk
Conwy is home to an impressive array of bridges and tunnels, many of them on (or formerly on) the A55. The Conwy Tunnel itself isn't the most glamorous but it's probably the most used. An unusual arch commemorates its opening and frames a view of the town. #conwy
Portal of a tunnel carrying a dual carriageway. The tunnel is square in shape since it is a submerged tube and not bored in the conventional way A sign listing restrictions on traffic that can use the tunnel in both English and Welsh, starting with the large words DIM and NO. Plaque marking the opening of the tunnel, reading "to commemorate the opening of the Conwy Tunnel by Her Majesty the Queen 25th October 1991" Rectangular concrete archway, bearing a brass commemorative plaque, which frames a view of Conwy's castle and town walls seen across the river
November 23, 2025 at 3:03 PM
roads.org.uk
Skelmersdale's link to the motorway network has a strange history, and the book that celebrated its opening reveals some little-known secrets about unrealised plans for the New Town. Take a look in our museum of Opening Booklets. #skelmersdale www.roads.org.uk/opening-book...
Black and white aerial photograph of the M6/M58 interchange under construction, with looped sliproads near the camera and two huge roundabouts Plan of new roads serving Skelmersdale New Town, including the M6, a "regional road" linking it to the motorway, and several main roads in the town itself Black and white aerial photograph of the western part of Skelmersdale, with a pair of huge roundabouts under construction and labels for some of the roads and housing estates
November 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
roads.org.uk
Have you heard? Our epic Ringways Map was finally published last week, laying out London's unbuilt urban motorways in full detail for the first time ever. Our blog post has all the details: www.roads.org.uk/blog/ringway...
A map of Clapham Junction with two huge triangular motorway interchanges overlaid on it, connected by a six carriageway road, and with other motorways radiating out in all directions. Images in this post contain OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2017). A map of Chiswick, with the Chiswick Roundabout at the centre, over which a sprawling motorway interchange has been drawn A map of Denham, just outside Uxbridge, over which a huge motorway interchange has been drawn, showing a four-level stack and braided sliproads connecting to other adjacent interchanges A map of Harlow, over which a much bigger and more extensive road network has been drawn
November 13, 2025 at 6:41 PM
roads.org.uk
We've spent a lot of time this week talking about unbuilt motorways in London, but Glasgow has plenty of those too - and we've got a whole page exploring the amazing artist's renderings of the futuristic world planners hoped to create. #glasgow www.roads.org.uk/articles/gla...
Colour painting of a city seen from the air, with boxy modernistic buildings and lots of green space and a large motorway interchange at the centre Black and white sketch drawing of a four-lane road passing underneath two curving flyovers; a pair of blocky brutalist tower blocks are on the left Black and white sketch drawing of a mother pushing a pram, with a child next to her holding a doll. They are walking along a path underneath a motorway flyover towards two brutalist tower blocks Black and white sketch drawing of two large motorway viaducts, beneath which is a pedestrian subway sunken into the ground. In it several groups of people are gathered, seemingly in casual conversation
November 9, 2025 at 3:03 PM
roads.org.uk
Blimey, it’s not normally this lively in my weird little niche. Am I going viral? Is this blowing up? Is it time to hire an agent?
A BlueSky notifications button with “30+” notifications lit up
November 9, 2025 at 10:42 AM
roads.org.uk
Unstable, unsafe and scheduled for demolition: catch Gateshead’s iconic, never-finished double-deck flyover while you still can. Our photo gallery will show you the sights. #gateshead www.roads.org.uk/photo/gatesh...
A concrete flyover structure that appears to stop in mid-air, with a road beneath and sliproads connecting the flyover to the ground. A brutalist concrete tower block is in the background A pedestrian subway ramp spirals down into the ground between concrete walls, in the shadow of an enormous elevated road that blocks out the sky A flyover sliproad comes down to ground level on the right, with queueing cars, while on the left another road emerges from beneath the flyover
November 6, 2025 at 6:41 PM
roads.org.uk
Zoom in all the way to see everything, with the most detailed labelling. The lines are approximately to scale, so if a black line obscures something it would have been demolished... but then a lot of stuff all around the black lines would have been demolished. /6
Close-up map of Blackheath, with a thick black line through the town centre labelled "Ringway 1 South Cross Route" and a dashed grey line branching off it labelled "Buchanan's bored tunnel alternative line"
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
roads.org.uk
Zoom in and you get more detail. The black lines are the Primary Road Network - London's planned but largely unbuilt motorway network. The red lines are the Secondary Road Network, which would have fed traffic to the motorways, and mostly were London's existing main roads. /5
Map of a section of London onto which many lines have been overlaid - thick black lines labelled "Ringway 1" and "A20(M)", and thinner red lines covering existing main roads. Junctions like Kidbrooke Interchange and St John's Interchange are labelled.
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
roads.org.uk
The map we published today is the first one, *ever*, to show you everything they planned. Nobody in history has seen the whole, complete 1960s vision for London until today. At the outer zoom levels, you get an outline plan - colour coded to match the pages of our Ringways mini-site. /4
Map of London at a distant zoom level, over which have been laid a network of major roads in various colours
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
roads.org.uk
But the planners never saw the whole thing. It wasn't one plan, it was a whole city of individual plans, each one drawn up separately by different government bodies, departments, consultancies, engineers. They had a broad outline but nobody ever drew a map of the system they were creating. /3
Outline plan of the Ringways, essentially a blank sheet of A4 paper with black lines drawn and labelled for the planned major road network and no further context
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
roads.org.uk
London's planners wanted to turn the capital into a motorway city, drawing four concentric ring motorways around the centre and an array of radial routes travelling in and out. It would have changed London forever. /2
Rough charcoal sketch artist's impression of an urban motorway with cars rushing into the distance and tall concrete tower blocks on either side
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
roads.org.uk
Devon's road signs use all sorts of colours and boxes that you won't see anywhere else in the UK. It's all part of a county-wide system to tell you how wide each road is and save you getting stuck between two hedges. Our guide explains it all. #devon www.roads.org.uk/blog/devon-h...
A fingerpost sign, on which one panel has no border and an arrow in white outlined in black, and another has a list of destinations among which only "Chagford" has been given a blue border Direction sign showing a junction with Lyme Regis ahead and Exeter Airport to the left, and the destination Aylesbeare inside a brown box. A fingerpost sign for Postbridge which has a brown border and a brown arrow A direction sign with a black border and arrows, on which the destinations Sticklepath and South Tawton, and a brown panel indicating a caravan site, have all been placed inside a blue box
November 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
roads.org.uk
Arriving this week, after an eight year wait... the Ringways Map. Our Ringways pages will finally be joined by a high resolution map showing the entire city with its urban motorway network. Stand by for fireworks! In the meantime you can revisit our Ringways pages here: www.roads.org.uk/ringways
Extract from a map showing an unbuilt urban motorway through the South East London suburb of Mottingham. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database rights (2017) used under the terms of the Open Government Licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/
November 1, 2025 at 3:20 PM
roads.org.uk
The A1(M) Darlington Bypass opened in 1965, starting a project to connect the North East by motorway that was only finished in 2018. Take a look at this pioneering motorway project in the official book that marked its opening. #darlington www.roads.org.uk/opening-book...
Black and white photograph of a deep rock cutting with a new unsurfaced motorway passing through it. A piece of earthmoving equipment and a small vintage car are visible Plan of the A1(M) Darlington Bypass, showing the town, the old A1 passing through and the new motorway passing to the west, picked out in bright pink Extract from a book with a black and white picture of all sorts of 1960s earthmoving equipment arrayed on a muddy road bed
October 26, 2025 at 3:03 PM
roads.org.uk
Junction design doesn't have to just be functional - we think it can be beautiful too. Explore the graceful geometry of loops, links and bridges in our Interchanges section. www.roads.org.uk/interchanges
3D drawing of a four level stack interchange against a green background Diagram of traffic flows through a complex whirlpool interchange with different flows shown by different coloured arrows 3D drawing of a three level stacked roundabout interchange Diagram of traffic flows at a cloverleaf interchange, with four distinctive loops in the design
October 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM
roads.org.uk
Views of the spectacular M90 Queensferry Crossing (plus a cameo from the Forth Road Bridge), seen from on and off the bridge. It opened eight years ago with great fanfare and a public walkabout event. Were you there? Let us know your memories in the comments 👇 www.roads.org.uk/photo/forth-...
View of a cable-stayed bridge as seen from the water below Bridge deck with dozens of huge white-painted cables coming down diagonally to meet it View from the water of the Forth Road Bridge, a grey suspension bridge, in the foreground, with the Queensferry Crossing, a cable stayed bridge, seen in the distance through the first View from below, looking up at the Queensferry Crossing, showing a motorway sign above the road deck that looks tiny against the huge bridge deck and tower
October 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
roads.org.uk
You can catch a train to France if you want, but back in the 80s there were hopes you'd be able to drive there too. Meet EuroRoute, the unbelievable plan for a road across the Channel via bridges, a tunnel and two artificial islands. www.roads.org.uk/articles/eur...
Artist's rendering of a long cable stayed bridge stretching away into the distance over a choppy sea with a yellow sailing boat in the foreground and a cargo ship away on the horizon Artist's rendering of an artificial island, shown as a cut-away so the interior is visible. A cable stayed bridge carries a road onto the island which spirals down underground, while buildings and a marina are visible around the edges Diagram showing a small part of the Kent coast with Dover visible; projecting out across the Channel are two lines, one representing a rail tunnel and the other a long road bridge to an island and a tunnel on from there Sketch of an artificial island, with a cable stayed bridge leading to it, which has a large marina surrounded by hotels and casinos
October 16, 2025 at 5:41 PM
roads.org.uk
We've got a soft spot for the tiny M49. It's one of the oddest motorways - for years it had no junctions, and now it has one junction which leads nowhere at all. What's the story behind the ghost interchange at Avonmouth? #m49 #bristol
www.roads.org.uk/blog/ghost-j...
www.roads.org.uk/motorway/m49
A blue sign reading "SOUTH WALES, London, M49" points down an empty sliproad towards a motorway A white van passes from left to right under a new-looking bridge with concrete supports and green painted metal beams A sign reading "M49, M4, M5" points towards a clearly unfinished road that ends in a pile of rubble and temporary barriers just a few metres away A blue sign reading "M49" is seen against a grey sky at the top of an almost vertical grassy embankment
October 12, 2025 at 2:03 PM
roads.org.uk
Back in the 1930s it was easier to go around things than shift too much earth. That's why the A24 takes such a snaking course along the Mole Valley near Mickleham, making one of the UK's most hair-raising dual carriageways. #surrey www.roads.org.uk/photo/mickle...
Photograph of a car travelling around a sharp left-hand bend with several yellow-bordered chevron signs marking the turn Photograph of a sharp corner on a dual carriageway, with one lane painted out with white stripes and the other carriageway visible in the distance through the trees A sharp corner on a dual carriageway, with an electronic warning sign in the foreground lit up to show a 50mph speed limit and a speed camera symbol
October 9, 2025 at 5:41 PM
roads.org.uk
In 1971 the M602 Eccles Bypass was pushed through the suburbs of Greater Manchester, and its builders were delighted with their work. To celebrate they published a book full of praise and fascinating archive pictures of an urban motorway under construction. #m602 www.roads.org.uk/opening-book...
Black and white aerial photograph of a large motorway interchange nearing completion. One arm travels away into the distance where it almost immediately enters the suburbs, passing between houses and factories Black and white photograph of a motorway nearing completion. It has tarmac carriageways and lighting but no road markings yet. The motorway curves away into the distance through an urban area Aerial photograph of a motorway under construction in an urban area. Buildings have been cleared to leave a swathe of bare land which is crossed by several new, white concrete bridges Map showing the location of the M602 Eccles Bypass in Greater Manchester, with other motorways nearby marked as under construction
October 5, 2025 at 2:03 PM
roads.org.uk
All roundabouts are the same: you give way to the right when you join. But it wasn't always so. In February 1960 Middlesbrough was the first place to try a new priority to the right rule. The queues vanished immediately, and the new rule stuck. #middlesbrough www.roads.org.uk/articles/rou...
Archive photograph from the early 1960s of a small urban roundabout that has locked up, with a continuous line of cars around the junction and none of the traffic moving Archive photograph from the early 1960s of the approach to a roundabout. A hand-painted sign reads GIVE WAY TO TRAFFIC FROM YOUR RIGHT. Traffic flow diagram for a roundabout, using arrows in four different colours to show the volume of traffic approaching on each arm and travelling to each of the others in the morning rush hour Archive photograph of the approach to the Newport Bridge in Middlesbrough, with traffic departing the roundabout in the foreground and travelling up the ramp towards a bridge with tall metal towers
October 2, 2025 at 5:41 PM
roads.org.uk
These amazing pictures show the M40 under construction near High Wycombe - and one motorist who didn't look out for the signs when passing through the roadworks. They were sent to us a few years ago by Robert Plato. For more old photos, see our picture gallery: www.roads.org.uk/photo/old-mo...
A car travels on an unfinished motorway. In the distance there are construction workers and plant on the incomplete carriageway of a bridge A bridge is under construction, with lines of concrete piers and some unfinished steel beams joining them A car that has crashed into a set of heavy wooden barriers painted with chevrons. The barriers are strewn across the road and the car is badly dented An almost complete motorway curves into the distance, crossing a flyover
September 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
roads.org.uk
It was one of the most hated things ever to appear on the UK's roads. Do you remember the notorious M4 Bus Lane? #m4 #london
A view of a motorway from an overpass. A bus travels down a red-painted bus lane on the right hand side of a three-lane motorway A view of a motorway at dusk in red-pink light, with traffic using two general lanes and a third red-painted bus lane empty
September 21, 2025 at 2:03 PM
roads.org.uk
It's the bypass that went through the middle of a town. Bingley, hemmed in by steep hills, had its relief road pushed through the town centre in the early 2000s. We've got a whole gallery of pictures documenting this unusual project: www.roads.org.uk/photo/bingle...
A muddy building site runs alongside a canal in what is clearly an urban landscape. There is the tall brick chimney of a former mill to the left A stone-faced bridge is under construction, with the deck at ground level but evidence of excavation of the space underneath beginning A road is under construction, currently just a very wet muddy road bed in a deep trench through a town
September 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
roads.org.uk
How do you build a motorway? Engineers working on the final section of the M65 documented their progress with hundreds of aerial photographs, taken back when you needed an aeroplane to do it, and their pictures provide the answer in full colour. #preston www.roads.org.uk/m65-construc...
Aerial photograph of a motorway construction site, with two bridges built over an open motorway and another even bigger viaduct half-built as a set of steel beams. Around them is a mudbath with construction vehicles scattered about Aerial photograph looking along the line of a motorway construction project that curves into the distance between houses and industrial units Aerial photograph of a motorway with a junction in the foreground and another much bigger multi-level junction being built in the distance
September 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM