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£50m M49 junction at Bristol unused as link road unbuilt

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£50m M49 junction at Bristol unused as link road unbuilt

 

Picture caption

Road to nowhere – the junction is open however doesn’t link to the enterprise park as deliberate

A brand new £50m motorway junction close to Bristol has but to open as a result of builders haven’t constructed a link road to it, the BBC has discovered.

The brand new route on the M49 at Avonmouth was due to hook up with a distribution centre with the motorway community. The junction was accomplished in late 2019.

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Regardless of it being full for greater than eight months, visitors is but to make use of it.

South Gloucestershire Council mentioned it was “working to affect” the builders to construct the link road.

Main corporations utilizing the distribution park embrace Amazon, Tesco, Lidl, Subsequent, DHL and The Vary. Royal Mail additionally has a distribution centre on the park.

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However at the moment any drivers that used the motorway junction would attain a fenced-off dead-end from which they may see the Amazon warehouse however not be capable of drive to it.

A former employee at the distribution park, James Lengthy, accused the federal government of “messing up” and mentioned the scenario was a “shame” and “insult”, claiming the enterprise park homeowners have been “holding the general public to ransom”.

Mr Lengthy, a resident of the close by village of Pilning, mentioned “1000’s” of lorries have been as a substitute utilizing a close-by A road to entry the motorway community.

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Finish of the road – the route from the motorway junction stops simply in need of the enterprise park

The brand new junction could be the one one on the quick M49 route, which hyperlinks the M5 at Avonmouth with the Prince of Wales Bridge that crosses the River Severn.

Two corporations are named as the landowners – Severnside Distribution Land and Delta Properties. Neither have responded to requests for remark from the BBC.

A not-for-profit agency, SevernNet, which represents companies within the space, mentioned it was “evidently disappointing for all events that the brand new junction can’t be used but”.

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A spokesperson for South Gloucestershire Council mentioned “accountability for constructing the link road… lies solely with the landowner” and the council was working to “affect and assist facilitate development” of the road in a “well timed method”.

Highways England, which constructed the junction, mentioned: “South Gloucestershire Council is at the moment working in direction of [building the road] with builders.”

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