It took me ages to learn that one - and my late father was Welsh. I wish you'd picked an easier place name - Machynlleth, for example. I know the road doesn't go near there, but it rolls off the tongue, unlike 'Cardiff'. 🤔🤔🤔
My local M-Road has made it! Wondered if you would give it any airtime. The 'abandoned' slip road is in regular use by the Traffic Wombles, the gates are sometimes left open. The red and white barriers are there as it has become a regular flytipping spot and now has a camera watching it! The underpass is a regular dog walking route used by the locals, easy access to a few fields. As for the A48, it was meant to join up with the A4232 and form a ring road round the south of Cardiff but they only built the beginning and end bits. The East side goes from J30 of the M4 down to the A48 then stops while the West portion goes from J33 down to the Queens Gate Tunnel and was only recently extended to the docks but not as originally intended, the original flyover start is still there but has never been used and never will be. The A4232 was meant to carry on round the docks and cut through Pengam Green but costs put an end to it due to the soft ground so we're stuck with Rover Way that is always a traffic jam and regularly gets patched as bits of it literally sink into the soft mud below! There is now a Tesco on the original planned route and that's unlikely to get removed. The odd bit of carriageway though has always been a mystery, even when it was built no-one knew why!
Nothing to do with the A48(M) or Wales, but as we were driving down from the North Pennines, M6, etc etc yesterday we kept spotting things like the Farm Shop service station, the ATC like tower at Lancaster, little abandoned road infrastructure and such that reminded us of various of your videos, which helped make the time go by. Things we would not have noticed or have paid attention to previously, so I'm looking for more videos to keep us looking out for secrets and oddities on future drives. 🚙 Thank you!
Was that a good or bad surprise? I heard that they used to send people to Derby to learn how NOT to design roads, lol! Though that was a long time ago, if ever it was true at all! (And it always thrills me when I use part of the inner ring road and find myself driving down 'Lara Croft Way' - even though I'm not even a gamer!!)
Absolutely brilliant.. Secrets of the A48(M) So as I always thought that middle carriageway was originally the M4 terminal carriageway before the M4 carried onto J30.. but as you say was built between 1981 and 1991. The M48 was originally designed to do a full loop of cardiff and continue on through the docklands as the A4232 to join up to the existing as a fly over at the Queens Gate Roundabout. The start of the flyover was built as you leave the tunnels in Cardiff Bay but the docklands section was never built. I have an old map somewhere showing the future planned route as a dotted road. In around 2015 they decided to extend the A4232 from Queens Gate Roundabout onto Ocean Way to reduce the traffic congestion going around the industrial estate. Unfortunately they originally wanted to continue the flyover section but due to budget and a large sewer pipe they were unable to complete it and its just another exit off the roundabout.. still leaving the centre start of the flyover abandoned and leading to nowhere! The A48M, M4 is a great set of motorways that allow you to travel from one side of Cardiff to another in quick easy time. Thats what i love about Cardiff.
The bypass of Rover Way really, really needs to be built! Everytime I had the car cleaned something would come up with work and I'd have to drive by Celsa and dirty my car!
Not even thought about the GOGS for 20+ years and the moment I heard the theme kick in I had PTSD flashbacks of that show and instantly recognised it...
Loving the 1970s funky detective style music. Befitting of an investigation. This video shows that a good presenter or teacher can make anything interesting.
On the subject of the mystery carriageway, from the aerial photo it looks like the "mystery" carriageway is that road, then the new dual carriageway was built alongside it with the old road capped off. Great video as always John.
The current A48(M) was part of the Original M4, before it was built to go elsewhere in Wales. This 'dead' part of M4 became A48(M) and 1 carriageway was 'removed' because of the New Junction being built.
The desk and office chair in the pedestrian underpass make it look to me like someone sits there with the intention of charging people to use it. A toll troll?
State of Ohio (where I live) did a whole bunch of this stuff back in the 1960's. A bunch of the state routes were either 1. truncated 2. completely gotten rid of; or 3. moved to a completely different area. For example, Route 18 used to continue from Akron to Youngstown. ODOT then truncated Route 18 so that road ends in Akron. Meanwhile some of the old Route 18 became Ohio Route 261 and Mahoning County Route 18.
I remember the “mystery” bit of carriageway being built and used… going back a while. It was for carriageway works or junction improvements at the time. Iirc.
I can't see this covered in other comments - what is the outro music as Jon waves goodbye to the drone camera? Auto Shenanigans always features bangin' choons - I wish you'd include a tracklist in the info text. Informative & entertaining work as usual!
I was told that James Callaghan lobbied for the A48M so Cardiff got a direct motorway width road into the Eastern Avenue years before junction 30 existed. I run around the lanes that go over both the A48 M and the M4 between St Mellons and Newport, never seen that mystery underpass though, will seek it out.
This needs to be backing music for one of these videos. 🙂 "Over all the bridges, Echoes in rows, Talking at the same time, Click-click drone... Underpass!"
Thanks Jon, the A48m is both the bane of my existence and a godsend when you speed in and out of Cardiff when theres no traffic. I use it daily to travel to Bristol for work. Some notes: The gates on the emergency slip road at the M4 have been there for a long time, I'm sure there used to be a sign saying emergency access only. The red and white plastic barrier has only gone on very recently, in the last few months. The overpass bridges on the A48 have only been painted recently too and they look great in your drone shots. So many parts of Cardiff look grotty and worn down, I think they make a good impression on the approach to the city. Shame about Newport Road and Rover Way that follow.
The M4 50mph limits new Newport are a pain. I'm from Norfolk, but was down in Pontypridd today and passing there after coming off the A449...it just creates needless traffic and more pollution..yet they claim it's to reduce pollution!
@@Meibeon those are caused by poor lane discipline or queues up the slip roads. I drive down that way on a regular basis and the 50mph area is constantly backed up during peak periods. It was slow moving at around half 1 this afternoon on my way to Pontypridd
It was worse when they tried variable speed limits on that stretch a few years ago. You can still see a lot of the gantries etc that are now redundant. They must have spent a fair bit on that project that didn’t work out. Some of the signals used were badly positioned due to overbridges etc, and it was poorly operated, with big steps, like 70- 50 c.f 70-60-50-40 like they do in the Bristol area.@@S.ASmith
@@S.ASmith the theory says this is not the case. Cars travelling at 50mph will be travelling at lower revs and so emitting less fumes than at 70mph. Congestion is reduced because traffic moving at 50mph can leave shorter gaps between vehicles, increasing the capacity of vehicles per mile along the stretch at any one time. A single 50mph limit is more effective than the old variable limit which left you uncertain of how fast you should be going, and you had to slow down around the Brynglas Tunnels anyway. I do wish however that the 50mph limit was for peak hours only as it is frustrating to have to pass through at 50mph during the dead of night. They could have used the old variable indicators that they spent so much money on to sign the 50 limit when it is in operation. However, I think it is a useful measure both to maximise capacity and reduce emissions as much as possible during peak hours.
Please do the central motorway through Newcastle upon Tyne. Brought in at a time when planners liked plans that chopped up cities, you'll love it. It even has slip roads that exit from the fast lane, and hideously short filter lanes!
We have a slip road into the "outside" lane here in Peterborough, it was the easiest way to join the road to the new A1(M) section. They are very rare though. I already suggested filming the Newcastle Central Motorway on the one day (in fact, not even a whole day) that it is closed.
Plenty of A roads are by definition under motorway regulations because they lead only to motorways with no exit. A14(M) after junction 1 westbound for example. But not built to motorway standards. Confused? You should be! And the Newcastle Central Motorway (that I have run along 19 times now without getting prosecuted!) is definitely not built to motorway standards. 3 miles of motorway in 1 mile. Hint to Jon - film on it on the second Sunday in September. Early though.
The A2 before the M2 is built to motorway standards having 3-4 lanes and a hard shoulder...but it's an A road (think it used to be the M2 but saw a designation change at some point). The A14 near Cambridge was built as a smart motorway, with 3 lanes but they couldn't get the legislation sorted because of COVID so put the green signage up and now it's just a special access A road that compliments the A1307 (the old A14) and the poor A1(M) alconbury to peterborough bypass is still an isolated motorway.
@@S.ASmith it's more complicated than that. The viaduct over the railway line had to go so the A1307 is now an access road to the centre of Huntingdon. Massively too big for the traffic it sees.
@@hairyairey because it's the old A14. I know what works been done as I followed it and drive the roads in that area on a regular basis. I was sat in the pub with Hogwarts style lady's toilets only a day or two ago as well...if you're a local you'll know exactly what one I mean.
Whato all, I enjoyed the closing music. I presume the screams were from John as he tried to work out the road numbering schemes for Wales. Cheers, Mark Andrew Pardoe
Tidy job, quite a lot packed in for such a relatively small ‘M’. I suspect the A48(M) has a few personality disorders and isn’t quite sure where their home is, but then I often see that among the pub-goers in Holyhead so maybe it needs to just make that one more move across the country to find it’s spiritual home 😜 Splendid as ever and once again an insanely good end credits soundtrack 🚀🍻🍀👍
Hi John, an Australian who once lived in Caerdydd or more precisely, close to the A48/A470 interchange. When you were mentioning the near motorway standard interchanges on the A48, I'm surprised you didn't mention the three level A48/A470 affair which is all the more remarkable for it's proximity to a High Street, houses, etc.
@@brianartillery Hoarding things like that has paid off fairly often, for me. Although I've stopped acquiring more old tools to hoard. Mostly because my granddad died and I got to raid his shed for carpentry tools.
Talking about other connecting roads in Cardiff that never happened, the one that should have made Rover Way obsolete by connecting the road through Cardiff Bay to the viaduct that leads to the Eastern Avenue used to tantalisingly appear as a dashed line on old maps but seems to have been forgotten. Possibly an interesting story there including the abandoned beginnings of an overpass at the Butetown tunnel end.
@@carldiff Why? Is there progress on this? Seems dubious given the apparent policy of "If the road system gets bad enough, people will stop needing to travel" or instead of spending an hour in a jam, will happily spend far longer hoping public transport will get them approximately where they need to go.
@@reggiedixon2 why so defensive? I agree with you! I was joking because you said there could be a story on Rover Way and then Jon has gone and done one. Calm down mate!
@@carldiff I am not being defensive, I am I suppose when I talk about the subject thinking about all the time sitting stationary approaching the Brynglas tunnels going west and all the politics around that situation
Just to give you an update on your M18 South Yorkshire video. Hatfield Services has now been built and a new slip road has been built from the M18 to the local defunct pit village called Stainforth where Hatfield Colliery used to be, there are plans to build a industrial estate, houses and a primary school and a Marina and Park but these already exist at Hatfield so why they are included in the plans i dont know, the plans are with Doncaster Met District Council.
"Spare numbers " are always a pleasure, far better to have them available for use than simply using "ANOTHER-ROAD" that would be a poor do. Cheers for another lovely video.
Car...diff, don't worry Jon that's near enough for us. Thank goodness there isn't a motorway that goes through Cwmystwyth, Bwlchgwyn or Ysbyty Ystwyth though!
The A48(M) motorway is just a spur bypass that avoids St. Mellons few miles east of Cardiff and goes parallel to the A48 between St. Mellons and Newport which passes through the small village of Castleton. I also would think that the A48(M) could of been renumbered as the M480?? And the M4 motorway could of been widened from Junction 23 M48 Magor interchange to A48(M) Castleton interchange from 6 lanes to 8 lanes and to convert the hard shoulder to smart motorway. And with the M4 Newport tunnels that would see part of the M4 smart motorway.
Two blokes with a Transit van had a bit of leftover Tarmac, knocked on at the DoT and offered to do an extra couple of lanes which is the mystery carriageway?
I was wondering what Welsh TV theme You would use and here comes the end theme of Gogs. Alas on of the old bats in my block of flats looks like and has evolved as much as the mother in the show. So much so I dont wish to hark back to it. Anyway ta for the video.
Been on the A48(M) many a time back and too in to Cardiff for the rugby it's a good road for the M4 . All we meed now is a North/South Motorway or Dual carriageway .Wales is the only country in Europe not to have a N/S Motorway or D/C . It's ironic you played the theme from the Welsh cartoon "GOGS" and you were in Cardiff ,Gogs is what people in the North are called ( Bangor , Llandudno , Wrexham ) as always great video mate
Fascinating stuff Jon, wicked sweet awesome and it was indeed an exciting episode. How the devil are you Jon? Great outro with a mid 80's tv game show vibe.
@@AutoShenanigans I did fire works on the bridge for the millennium. New year's Eve I drove it to the others side where the bridge cafe is. Good breakfast in there.
You should have given me a shout as you were close by, I'd have happily made you a cuppa. The hidden stretch of road could have been built for part of the M4 relief road as there numerous bits of road in the area that have been built with this in mind. The infamous road to nowhere in Dyffryn west of Newport could be one of those.
The official reason for the mystery carriageway is that it was temporary, for carriageway reconstruction works on the existing carriageway - presumably because there wasn't space to work in without closing the whole width, rather as the M4 was diverted near Taplow while they built the Jubilee River through it. I'm not sure what the cause of the reconstruction works was but tellingly there is a drain (marked on OS maps) flowing away from the carriageway at the highest point of the substantial embankment and also at the point where the mystery carriageway gets to the little 'kink' you can see in the aerial photo where it is furthest from the current carriageway. So I'd speculate that it was some kind of drainage upgrade/ slope stabilisation works. The area is only just above the Wentlooge Level and is not well drained.
Im intrigued by that ramshackle desk and chair in the underpass. Wonder what goes on there? I imagine some interviewing by a local scallywag, for people to join their gang
I assume like I you have had a vivid interest in road infrastructure and really love the content mate , there is a feeling we and many other logical people would argue that as road users we have been severely let down, when of course flowing traffic creates a lot less of the heat and gasses that are causing so called problems and most frustrating to me and us fund more flyovers and underpasses in the name of the environment I say 👍
As a Welsh man.... you nailed that pronunciation of that little known town.
Well done.
He rather messed up "Caerdydd", though...
i think he also fluffed the pronunciation of pronounciation...
It took me ages to learn that one - and my late father was Welsh. I wish you'd picked an easier place name - Machynlleth, for example. I know the road doesn't go near there, but it rolls off the tongue, unlike 'Cardiff'. 🤔🤔🤔
Just a shame he didn't quite manage Port Talbot
My English grandparents told me that Welsh people are lazy
Jon never fails to make us smile 😂
Too true, he's brilliant! 😂😂
He should do this on a tour. He has the comedy genius of Dave Gorman. I would definitely see his Edinburgh Fringe show.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
I've had the odd passing thought about a "tour" I can't work out how to make a 1.5 hour show out of motorway junction discussion.
@@AutoShenanigans you could include the story of when a car for Le Mans was tested on the M1 at 185mph.
A48M is a good motorway, allows a rapid exit from Cardiff
Far better never to go into Cardiff then you don't have to panic about exiting.😂
@@barrieshepherd7694 Whooosh
I can smell it from here!
That's why there was no toll on the Severn Bridge out of Wales, to make it faster to exit
@@M0UAW_IO83 There was no toll on the bridge out of Wales because no one wanted to add to the pain of entering England by charging you for it.
My local M-Road has made it! Wondered if you would give it any airtime.
The 'abandoned' slip road is in regular use by the Traffic Wombles, the gates are sometimes left open. The red and white barriers are there as it has become a regular flytipping spot and now has a camera watching it! The underpass is a regular dog walking route used by the locals, easy access to a few fields. As for the A48, it was meant to join up with the A4232 and form a ring road round the south of Cardiff but they only built the beginning and end bits. The East side goes from J30 of the M4 down to the A48 then stops while the West portion goes from J33 down to the Queens Gate Tunnel and was only recently extended to the docks but not as originally intended, the original flyover start is still there but has never been used and never will be. The A4232 was meant to carry on round the docks and cut through Pengam Green but costs put an end to it due to the soft ground so we're stuck with Rover Way that is always a traffic jam and regularly gets patched as bits of it literally sink into the soft mud below! There is now a Tesco on the original planned route and that's unlikely to get removed.
The odd bit of carriageway though has always been a mystery, even when it was built no-one knew why!
Thanks for additional info. This is like watching the directors notes to a film. 🙂
Always good when one of your local routes is reviewed.
I explored that entire area... Rover way traffic is really crap isnt it!
@@AutoShenanigans it's pretty much a car park whenever anything happens in Cardiff 🤣
Nothing to do with the A48(M) or Wales, but as we were driving down from the North Pennines, M6, etc etc yesterday we kept spotting things like the Farm Shop service station, the ATC like tower at Lancaster, little abandoned road infrastructure and such that reminded us of various of your videos, which helped make the time go by. Things we would not have noticed or have paid attention to previously, so I'm looking for more videos to keep us looking out for secrets and oddities on future drives. 🚙 Thank you!
It's like a modern day "Eye spy on the motorway" if you remember those books? What's a book?
@@AutoShenanigansYou took the words right out of my mouth.
Long journeys to Grandma's with an I-Spy book kept us kids quiet in the back.
It wouldn't be Sunday without a video from John.
Happy Auto Shenanigans day everyone! Don't forget to put your decorations up!
I've hung my freshly cleaned underpants up. Is that good enough?
City ring road planning history sounds like a whole new series you could do. I recently visited derby and was surprised by their ring road design...
And the inner ring road was half built in the 60-70-80s and the rest of it 2010-12. Would be great to see a video on this someday
Please do this! And come to croydon - home of 3/4 of a ring road 👌
@@chrimbo90then he could come to Yeovil, where they built 1/2 a ring road right through the middle of the town! 🤣
There is definitely a series there. Though I think there would be a recurring theme of “this was the plan, but they only built random bits of it…”
Was that a good or bad surprise? I heard that they used to send people to Derby to learn how NOT to design roads, lol! Though that was a long time ago, if ever it was true at all! (And it always thrills me when I use part of the inner ring road and find myself driving down 'Lara Croft Way' - even though I'm not even a gamer!!)
I remember my dad taking us for a trip along the, then brand new, A48M in his 1956 Vauxhall Velox.
Absolutely brilliant.. Secrets of the A48(M)
So as I always thought that middle carriageway was originally the M4 terminal carriageway before the M4 carried onto J30.. but as you say was built between 1981 and 1991.
The M48 was originally designed to do a full loop of cardiff and continue on through the docklands as the A4232 to join up to the existing as a fly over at the Queens Gate Roundabout. The start of the flyover was built as you leave the tunnels in Cardiff Bay but the docklands section was never built. I have an old map somewhere showing the future planned route as a dotted road.
In around 2015 they decided to extend the A4232 from Queens Gate Roundabout onto Ocean Way to reduce the traffic congestion going around the industrial estate.
Unfortunately they originally wanted to continue the flyover section but due to budget and a large sewer pipe they were unable to complete it and its just another exit off the roundabout.. still leaving the centre start of the flyover abandoned and leading to nowhere!
The A48M, M4 is a great set of motorways that allow you to travel from one side of Cardiff to another in quick easy time. Thats what i love about Cardiff.
The bypass of Rover Way really, really needs to be built! Everytime I had the car cleaned something would come up with work and I'd have to drive by Celsa and dirty my car!
We drove on the original A48(M) when it was the Port Talbot bypass. What I remember is the smell from the steel works. What a stink!
Not even thought about the GOGS for 20+ years and the moment I heard the theme kick in I had PTSD flashbacks of that show and instantly recognised it...
Loving the 1970s funky detective style music. Befitting of an investigation. This video shows that a good presenter or teacher can make anything interesting.
On the subject of the mystery carriageway, from the aerial photo it looks like the "mystery" carriageway is that road, then the new dual carriageway was built alongside it with the old road capped off.
Great video as always John.
This theory intrigues me. I wonder if John could share the full res version of that aerial photo with us?
The current A48(M) was part of the Original M4, before it was built to go elsewhere in Wales. This 'dead' part of M4 became A48(M) and 1 carriageway was 'removed' because of the New Junction being built.
The desk and office chair in the pedestrian underpass make it look to me like someone sits there with the intention of charging people to use it. A toll troll?
State of Ohio (where I live) did a whole bunch of this stuff back in the 1960's. A bunch of the state routes were either 1. truncated 2. completely gotten rid of; or 3. moved to a completely different area.
For example, Route 18 used to continue from Akron to Youngstown. ODOT then truncated Route 18 so that road ends in Akron. Meanwhile some of the old Route 18 became Ohio Route 261 and Mahoning County Route 18.
Pennsylvania did similar in the 1940s, to the point that generally speaking any overlap between the old and new routes is coincidence.
You have enough for a series of your own, get out and get filming, I would subscribe and watch.
I remember the “mystery” bit of carriageway being built and used… going back a while. It was for carriageway works or junction improvements at the time. Iirc.
About 1987 I think, I can remember using it (as a passenger) when travelling into the city for work, roadworks going on on the main carriageway
Amazing how much content you can give us from a short little stub of a motorway
I can't see this covered in other comments - what is the outro music as Jon waves goodbye to the drone camera? Auto Shenanigans always features bangin' choons - I wish you'd include a tracklist in the info text. Informative & entertaining work as usual!
Came here to ask this one. Usually they are kinda themed but I don't know enough about Welsh disco TV gameshow music to pinpoint this one 🤷🏻♀️
The A48(M) is a good vital link that is ideal for when coming from London on the M4 motorway and to get into Cardiff City Centre quicker.
0:21 _”caardifff??”_ 😂
Hey. That's near me. Wish I'd known you were down this way. You could have popped in for a coffee 👍. Great channel. Keep up the good work.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Been on that motorway plus A road as Cardiff gateway. I had never knew it before.
diolch John - a nice background story of my local motorway when I was a kid!
I was told that James Callaghan lobbied for the A48M so Cardiff got a direct motorway width road into the Eastern Avenue years before junction 30 existed. I run around the lanes that go over both the A48 M and the M4 between St Mellons and Newport, never seen that mystery underpass though, will seek it out.
A48M is a brilliant stretch, especially when quiet
That Cardiff joke had wife and I laughing out loud..... several times!!!!! Fair play fella, fair play!!!!!
I wonder what TV programme the music at the end of this episode of the Secrets of the Motorway is.
wonderful. a mysterious motorway that appears and disappears here and there.
And roads that led from nowhere to nowhere
0:26 laughed my head off.
Thanks for a great vid
This needs to be backing music for one of these videos. 🙂 "Over all the bridges, Echoes in rows, Talking at the same time, Click-click drone... Underpass!"
Love the Gogs music at the end.
Thanks Jon, the A48m is both the bane of my existence and a godsend when you speed in and out of Cardiff when theres no traffic. I use it daily to travel to Bristol for work. Some notes:
The gates on the emergency slip road at the M4 have been there for a long time, I'm sure there used to be a sign saying emergency access only. The red and white plastic barrier has only gone on very recently, in the last few months.
The overpass bridges on the A48 have only been painted recently too and they look great in your drone shots. So many parts of Cardiff look grotty and worn down, I think they make a good impression on the approach to the city. Shame about Newport Road and Rover Way that follow.
The M4 50mph limits new Newport are a pain. I'm from Norfolk, but was down in Pontypridd today and passing there after coming off the A449...it just creates needless traffic and more pollution..yet they claim it's to reduce pollution!
@@Meibeon those are caused by poor lane discipline or queues up the slip roads.
I drive down that way on a regular basis and the 50mph area is constantly backed up during peak periods. It was slow moving at around half 1 this afternoon on my way to Pontypridd
@@Meibeon might be the case, but 50mph speed limit on a motorway is poor.
it does no favours elsewhere in the motorway network
It was worse when they tried variable speed limits on that stretch a few years ago. You can still see a lot of the gantries etc that are now redundant. They must have spent a fair bit on that project that didn’t work out. Some of the signals used were badly positioned due to overbridges etc, and it was poorly operated, with big steps, like 70- 50 c.f 70-60-50-40 like they do in the Bristol area.@@S.ASmith
@@S.ASmith the theory says this is not the case. Cars travelling at 50mph will be travelling at lower revs and so emitting less fumes than at 70mph. Congestion is reduced because traffic moving at 50mph can leave shorter gaps between vehicles, increasing the capacity of vehicles per mile along the stretch at any one time. A single 50mph limit is more effective than the old variable limit which left you uncertain of how fast you should be going, and you had to slow down around the Brynglas Tunnels anyway.
I do wish however that the 50mph limit was for peak hours only as it is frustrating to have to pass through at 50mph during the dead of night. They could have used the old variable indicators that they spent so much money on to sign the 50 limit when it is in operation. However, I think it is a useful measure both to maximise capacity and reduce emissions as much as possible during peak hours.
Gogs! Excellent!
Please do the central motorway through Newcastle upon Tyne. Brought in at a time when planners liked plans that chopped up cities, you'll love it. It even has slip roads that exit from the fast lane, and hideously short filter lanes!
We have a slip road into the "outside" lane here in Peterborough, it was the easiest way to join the road to the new A1(M) section. They are very rare though. I already suggested filming the Newcastle Central Motorway on the one day (in fact, not even a whole day) that it is closed.
Sunday afternoon viewing sorted!!
Gogs. I loved that series. Love the inclusion of the theme at the end.
Someone got new cameras! The video quality is lush, John! And nice video on A48(M), thank you!
John, I loved the ongoing "spare" number . Your make everything so easy to listen to digest and enjoy, thank you Have a great week yourself 😀😀
There’s probably a forgotten box of spare numbers somewhere in a cupboard at National Highways (or whatever they’re called this week).
Im sure there’s a whole new series there John about A roads that look like motorways, but aren’t. There sure seems to be a lot of roads like that.
Plenty of A roads are by definition under motorway regulations because they lead only to motorways with no exit. A14(M) after junction 1 westbound for example. But not built to motorway standards. Confused? You should be! And the Newcastle Central Motorway (that I have run along 19 times now without getting prosecuted!) is definitely not built to motorway standards. 3 miles of motorway in 1 mile. Hint to Jon - film on it on the second Sunday in September. Early though.
Secrets of the A Roads - could happen as he's ticking off motorways quicker than they're building them.
The A2 before the M2 is built to motorway standards having 3-4 lanes and a hard shoulder...but it's an A road (think it used to be the M2 but saw a designation change at some point).
The A14 near Cambridge was built as a smart motorway, with 3 lanes but they couldn't get the legislation sorted because of COVID so put the green signage up and now it's just a special access A road that compliments the A1307 (the old A14) and the poor A1(M) alconbury to peterborough bypass is still an isolated motorway.
@@S.ASmith it's more complicated than that. The viaduct over the railway line had to go so the A1307 is now an access road to the centre of Huntingdon. Massively too big for the traffic it sees.
@@hairyairey because it's the old A14.
I know what works been done as I followed it and drive the roads in that area on a regular basis.
I was sat in the pub with Hogwarts style lady's toilets only a day or two ago as well...if you're a local you'll know exactly what one I mean.
Using the Gogs theme for a motorway in south Wales. Cue Alanis…
Really look forward to these little snippets of info you give us mate think you have got this TH-cam lark nailed
It's getting there :D Thanks for watching.
Whato all,
I enjoyed the closing music. I presume the screams were from John as he tried to work out the road numbering schemes for Wales.
Cheers, Mark Andrew Pardoe
Sherlock John. Great forensics!
Another Whicked, Sweet, Awesome production by Jon's Autoshenanigans outfit. Thanks Jon😅
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Coffee from Mr & Mrs 6thDayBlue
Thanks muchly guys.
Cardiff. A great attempt at one of those tricky Welsh names.
Tidy job, quite a lot packed in for such a relatively small ‘M’. I suspect the A48(M) has a few personality disorders and isn’t quite sure where their home is, but then I often see that among the pub-goers in Holyhead so maybe it needs to just make that one more move across the country to find it’s spiritual home 😜
Splendid as ever and once again an insanely good end credits soundtrack 🚀🍻🍀👍
I love spending my Sunday mornings with Jon.
That sounds like lyrics.
Someone should write a song.
Great investigative work there, Jon.
Enjoy the coffee.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Thanks, I’ve always struggled with the pronunciation of Cardiff myself
Hi John, an Australian who once lived in Caerdydd or more precisely, close to the A48/A470 interchange. When you were mentioning the near motorway standard interchanges on the A48, I'm surprised you didn't mention the three level A48/A470 affair which is all the more remarkable for it's proximity to a High Street, houses, etc.
That interchange is a left over of a larger plan, there was supposed to be more road there!
@@AutoShenanigans I think they got that far and rethought the death and destruction that would take place if they went any further.
I like how the British road planners don't remove any old sections of motorway
It might be re-used someday. you never know.
Why spend money ripping up tarmac when nature will eventually do it for free?
It's simply a large scale version of hoarding old wood screws in jam jars, in that, they 'Might be needed one day'. A very British mindset.
@@brianartillery Hoarding things like that has paid off fairly often, for me.
Although I've stopped acquiring more old tools to hoard. Mostly because my granddad died and I got to raid his shed for carpentry tools.
Demolition costs money, just walking away is free.
Talking about other connecting roads in Cardiff that never happened, the one that should have made Rover Way obsolete by connecting the road through Cardiff Bay to the viaduct that leads to the Eastern Avenue used to tantalisingly appear as a dashed line on old maps but seems to have been forgotten. Possibly an interesting story there including the abandoned beginnings of an overpass at the Butetown tunnel end.
Funny you should say that...
@@carldiff Why? Is there progress on this? Seems dubious given the apparent policy of "If the road system gets bad enough, people will stop needing to travel" or instead of spending an hour in a jam, will happily spend far longer hoping public transport will get them approximately where they need to go.
@@reggiedixon2 why so defensive? I agree with you! I was joking because you said there could be a story on Rover Way and then Jon has gone and done one. Calm down mate!
@@carldiff I am not being defensive, I am I suppose when I talk about the subject thinking about all the time sitting stationary approaching the Brynglas tunnels going west and all the politics around that situation
Ever tremendous in many ways. Thanks Jon
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Another great feature. 😊😊
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Another great vid for a Sunday afternoon makes Sundays look forward to 🎉
I'm glad the architect of the building just down left of centre at 1.36 didn't let the intrusive thoughts win...
Just to give you an update on your M18 South Yorkshire video. Hatfield Services has now been built and a new slip road has been built from the M18 to the local defunct pit village called Stainforth where Hatfield Colliery used to be, there are plans to build a industrial estate, houses and a primary school and a Marina and Park but these already exist at Hatfield so why they are included in the plans i dont know, the plans are with Doncaster Met District Council.
What? Those services have been there years. Called Doncaster North? At Hatfield?
Great video as always, love the Gogs theme in the end credits !
Nice one, thanks for watching!
"Spare numbers " are always a pleasure, far better to have them available for use than simply using "ANOTHER-ROAD" that would be a poor do. Cheers for another lovely video.
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Car...diff, don't worry Jon that's near enough for us. Thank goodness there isn't a motorway that goes through Cwmystwyth, Bwlchgwyn or Ysbyty Ystwyth though!
I'm only 2.5 mile from Bwlchgwyn
Nice to see Zooport featured here lol.
Ah, my hometown. Thanks for the nostalgia!
Nice one, thanks for watching!
The A48(M) motorway is just a spur bypass that avoids St. Mellons few miles east of Cardiff and goes parallel to the A48 between St. Mellons and Newport which passes through the small village of Castleton. I also would think that the A48(M) could of been renumbered as the M480??
And the M4 motorway could of been widened from Junction 23 M48 Magor interchange to A48(M) Castleton interchange from 6 lanes to 8 lanes and to convert the hard shoulder to smart motorway. And with the M4 Newport tunnels that would see part of the M4 smart motorway.
Two blokes with a Transit van had a bit of leftover Tarmac, knocked on at the DoT and offered to do an extra couple of lanes which is the mystery carriageway?
I was wondering what Welsh TV theme You would use and here comes the end theme of Gogs. Alas on of the old bats in my block of flats looks like and has evolved as much as the mother in the show. So much so I dont wish to hark back to it. Anyway ta for the video.
Been on the A48(M) many a time back and too in to Cardiff for the rugby it's a good road for the M4 . All we meed now is a North/South Motorway or Dual carriageway .Wales is the only country in Europe not to have a N/S Motorway or D/C . It's ironic you played the theme from the Welsh cartoon "GOGS" and you were in Cardiff ,Gogs is what people in the North are called ( Bangor , Llandudno , Wrexham ) as always great video mate
Short for Gogledd (north).
@@paulsengupta971 That's right mate, Gogledd, I'm from Wrexham that make's me a Gog
Maybe a series documenting all of the UKs failed ringways projects could be cool?
Theres a lot of those!
Being from south Wales this was a very informative video. Thanks Jon!
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Another brilliant and informative video Jon.
Brilliant as ever
Fascinating stuff Jon, wicked sweet awesome and it was indeed an exciting episode. How the devil are you Jon? Great outro with a mid 80's tv game show vibe.
All good ta, thanks for watching!
I certainly did like that, and I certainly did specifically hit the like button!
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Got stuck one night coming back from ireland ended up driving around Cardiff trying to get back on M4
Hope you made it out!
Awesome Video
Nice one, thanks for watching!
Cheers John... Aniother great video...
CAAAAARDIFFFF??? Haha that made me laugh big time.
Did you see the transporter bridge in Newport. That is impressive.
I have seen it! Nice bit of kit.
@@AutoShenanigans I did fire works on the bridge for the millennium. New year's Eve I drove it to the others side where the bridge cafe is. Good breakfast in there.
You should have given me a shout as you were close by, I'd have happily made you a cuppa. The hidden stretch of road could have been built for part of the M4 relief road as there numerous bits of road in the area that have been built with this in mind. The infamous road to nowhere in Dyffryn west of Newport could be one of those.
The one at Coedkernew? th-cam.com/video/pmDSWBEJl8U/w-d-xo.html
Another great vid
Fantastic episode as always jon :-)
Hehe, love the outro!
Great tidbit of information this video, as ever entertainingly written! Cheers Jon :)
Nice one, thanks for watching!
The A48m now contines off the M4 towards Chepstow, which was the original M4 to the first severn crossing.
That’s the M48.
a Motorway in Wales? I'm amazed!
Better here than Cornwall!
@@koolstup or Norfolk or Suffolk.
Wow, confusing number system.
Would be interesting to some Northern Ireland motorway videos.
I'd not heard about the road building plan for Cardiff, maybe you could do an episode about which cities have the best and worst road building plans.
The official reason for the mystery carriageway is that it was temporary, for carriageway reconstruction works on the existing carriageway - presumably because there wasn't space to work in without closing the whole width, rather as the M4 was diverted near Taplow while they built the Jubilee River through it. I'm not sure what the cause of the reconstruction works was but tellingly there is a drain (marked on OS maps) flowing away from the carriageway at the highest point of the substantial embankment and also at the point where the mystery carriageway gets to the little 'kink' you can see in the aerial photo where it is furthest from the current carriageway. So I'd speculate that it was some kind of drainage upgrade/ slope stabilisation works. The area is only just above the Wentlooge Level and is not well drained.
Yes he got Cardiff correct.👏😂💯That's the beauty of .Welsh...it is phonetic.
Easiest language there is!
Very interesting
Im intrigued by that ramshackle desk and chair in the underpass. Wonder what goes on there? I imagine some interviewing by a local scallywag, for people to join their gang
I assume like I you have had a vivid interest in road infrastructure and really love the content mate , there is a feeling we and many other logical people would argue that as road users we have been severely let down, when of course flowing traffic creates a lot less of the heat and gasses that are causing so called problems and most frustrating to me and us fund more flyovers and underpasses in the name of the environment I say 👍
Wicked sweet awesome thank for making my Sunday afternoon complete
Keep an eye out for Steve camping in your slip roads🏕
This channel shouldn't work, but I love it! _I'm especially liking this episode's outro music..._ 👍
Nice one, thanks for watching mate!
Thanks
Thanks very much!
Is Cardiff the place where they developed the better axle for going around corners in your car?
Well done on finding the lost carriage way, Indiana Jones would be proud, if he existed.
Mmmm. Indiana Jon and the lost carriageway. I like it.
Fwicked fwicked auto shenanigans massive
What the hell is that music at the end?! 😂
Is it sad that I look forward to watching these videos every week?