Bristol’s £50m motorway ‘ghost’ junction now facing more delays

'Defects' have been discovered and further work needs to be carried out

06:00, 18 Jun 2026Updated 07:34, 18 Jun 2026

The M49 junction near Bristol(Image: National Highway (formerly Highways England))

The opening of a 'ghost' motorway junction near Bristol that was built seven years ago could now face further delays, it has been confirmed. National Highways finished the majority of construction work on the two-bridge junction off the M49 - a section of road linking Avonmouth[1] and Severnside - in 2019 to the tune of GBP50m.

But proposals to connect the junction with a neighbouring distribution park, home to firms including Tesco[2] and Amazon, ground to a halt following a disagreement over which party should build the connecting link road[3].

Now "defects" have been discovered at the junction, National Highways has disclosed. The organisation overseeing England's road network said it was examining options for remedial works following an engineering assessment conducted by independent experts.

"Discussions with our contractor are ongoing," National Highways said in a statement. "We expect this will impact the opening of the South Gloucestershire[4] Council link road, which is in construction.

"We remain committed to opening the junction as this will benefit the regional economy and communities.

For safety reasons these defects must be addressed before we can connect it to local authority roads.

"We realise how frustrating this news will be to communities and businesses and we are working with the council and other partners on next steps."

A representative for South Gloucestershire Council[5] described the news as "incredibly frustrating", according to our sister site Business Live[6].

"We share the anger and disbelief felt by local residents and businesses," they said.

"The council has committed to deliver the link road to connect to the M49 junction, and we remain on track to do so by the end of 2026.

"However, the opening of the junction once the link road is complete is solely a matter for National Highways."

According to the council's proposals, construction of the link road had been due to wrap up this year, with the route opening to traffic in early 2027 - a full eight years after the junction was originally built.

But South Gloucestershire Council has now revealed that National Highways is yet to confirm any programme or timetable for addressing the problems affecting the junction, and is not expected to provide any further update until later this autumn.

"This uncertainty is deeply concerning for residents in nearby communities, who are affected by significant numbers of large vehicles using local roads," the council spokesperson said.

"The delay is also a problem for businesses in Severnside, an area we all want to see grow and which needs to be properly connected to the strategic road network as soon as possible, in order to attract the investment to create jobs.

"We are pressing National Highways to provide as much information as possible, as soon as possible, about how and when they will make the junction ready for traffic and when we can expect the link road to be connected to the motorway in the way we have long planned. We will continue to press for answers and share updates as soon as further information becomes available."

The MP for Thornbury[7] and Yate[8], Claire Young, has slammed National Highways for taking so long to disclose the issue."It is farcical that National Highways has waited until now to tell us there is a problem with the M49 junction they built," she said.Ms Young said National Highways was "unable" to reveal what the problem was."It means that the opening of this long awaited 'ghost junction' will almost certainly be delayed. My thoughts are with the long suffering local residents who will have to continue to deal with lorries thundering down their roads from massive warehouses that were located specifically to use this motorway junction. "The surrounding roads are being ripped to shreds by lorries they were never designed to carry.

Communication throughout has been poor; businesses and some local people are only now being told about the issue.

I will continue to press National Highways and the government to sort out this mess as quickly as possible."

When the M49 junction was originally put forward, there were hopes it would deliver an economic uplift for the area and alleviate congestion on nearby roads by linking the Port of Avonmouth and the Avonmouth and Severnside Enterprise Area.

The scheme, which received an additional GBP7m from the Department for Transport last year, has been plagued by setbacks, much to the frustration of local residents and businesses.

Land ownership disputes, arguments over accountability and working through environmental obstacles have all played a part in holding up the opening of what's become known as the "ghost junction".

Peter Tyzack, local councillor at Pilning and Severn Beach parish council, and former chair of planning on South Gloucestershire Council, previously told Business Live the hold-ups were "very frustrating".

"I raised the issue in council meetings and other local meetings on numerous occasions and got no straight answers," he said.

"I would ask about the approach road to the M49 junction and get told it was someone else's responsibility.

Local people are amazed it has taken so long."

Delta, the land owner of the nearby distribution park, has been contacted for comment.

References

1. ^ Avonmouth (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
2. ^ Tesco (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
3. ^ a disagreement over which party should build the connecting link road (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
4. ^ South Gloucestershire (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
5. ^ South Gloucestershire Council (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
6. ^ Business Live (www.business-live.co.uk)
7. ^ Thornbury (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
8. ^ Yate (www.bristolpost.co.uk)