The road that made no sense
It was the UK's only single-carriageway motorway, and twenty years ago it ceased to exist. This is the story of the strange fascination it held, and of my place in history.
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Hosted on Substack
The forever bottleneck, part 2
The second part of the story, where we learn why exactly the M4 gets narrower on the final approach to Europe’s biggest city.
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The forever bottleneck, part 1
The M4 into London was one of the UK's earliest and most ambitious motorway projects. It was bold, pioneering... and almost instantly regretted.
Hosted on Substack
simulator
Take a virtual tour of the UK's roads in the Simulator!
New for April 2026: M4 and M48 added.
Hello there!
Welcome to the UK's favourite roads website. Roads.org.uk (formerly CBRD) is dedicated to the study of the entire road network of mainland Britain. These days there's a lot of information about the road network out there - but Roads.org.uk remains the biggest, the most comprehensive and the most frequently updated. It contains information on most aspects of the network and is frequented by enthusiasts, officials, engineers and everyday road users alike. I aim to make the information on the site accessible to everybody, both in the way it's written and the way it's presented.
Roads.org.uk has no politics. It is not a pro-roads protest or campaign site. It is a reference site which aims to provide up-to-date and useful information on the road network of Great Britain. To find out more about the site and what it's trying to do, take a look at the About page.
I hope you enjoy the site!
Chris
Small print
While I make every effort to keep the information on Roads.org.uk accurate and up to date, I make no guarantees as to the validity of any information on this website. Anyone acting on this information does so at their own risk and I can accept no liability or responsibility for the results. Roads.org.uk does not represent (or claim to represent) the road maintenance or construction industries, and unless stated otherwise, the information on it is not officially sourced or endorsed. Best served ice cold.
Have you seen...
Aust to Beachley
Today two motorways cross the Severn near Chepstow. But as recently as 1965, the only crossing was a ferry that carried six cars at a time, from Aust to Beachley.
