£50 million funding given for new M49 junction

The new junction, announced to Parliament on Monday, December 1, will better connect the Avonmouth and Severnside enterprise area to both the M4 and M5 motorways.

The plan is part of a £15 billion road development package announced by the government as part of their ‘Road investment strategy’.

Seven new schemes have been announced for the South West – an investment of around £2 billion – which the government hopes will create about 1,300 construction jobs.

South Gloucestershire Council estimates that up to 13,400 jobs over 25 years could be accommodated at the enterprise zone if the area was fully developed.

A report published in 2012 said that a new junction on the five mile M49 would create 3,500 jobs in the Severn Beach area.

Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con, Severn) said “South Gloucestershire Council has been working with the Highways Agency on this issue and it is great that it has been confirmed that funding for the proposed M49 junction is in place.

“The new junction will provide local access to Severnside and Avonmouth to and from the M49 and should reduce the need for heavy traffic to come up the A403 to Aust, to get onto the motorway network.”

Chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, said: “Because we Conservatives have a long-term economic plan, we are able to invest in the South West and commit to building a new junction on the M49 to provide strategic access to Severnside and Avonmouth.

“The importance of this project has been brought to my attention thanks to the hard work of the Conservative MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke, Jack Lopresti.

“This new junction will open up investment for the area and improve a road network that is already overstretched and prone to large amounts of traffic.

“With a strong Conservative voice for Filton and Bradley Stoke and a government that's fixing the economy, we are now able to commit to funding the M49 junction.”

More to follow.