The M48 is a motorway in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, which crosses the Severn near

Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, linking England with Wales via the Severn Bridge. This road used to be the M4, and as a result is anomalously numbered: as it lies to the north of the M4 and to the west of the M5, it is in the Motorway Zone 5. The M4, M48 and the A48(M) motorway are the only motorways in Wales.

Route

Travelling from east to west, after leaving the M4 at Awkley, junction 21, near Olveston in England, the M48 begins by heading north-west towards

Aust Aust is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, about north of Bristol and about south west of Gloucester. It is located on the eastern side of the Severn estuary, close to the eastern end of the Severn Bridge which carries the M48 ...

, junction 1. It crosses the Severn and Wye rivers via the Severn Bridge. Entering Wales, the M48 heads south-west after junction 2, passing to the south of

, past Crick and continuing in a south-westerly direction, passing Caldicot and Rogiet. The motorway rejoins the M4 at Undy, junction 23 to the east of Magor. Junction 2 can be reached via the A466, which leads to the

A48 A48 may refer to: * A48 motorway (France), a road connecting the A43 and Grenoble * A48 road (Great Britain), a road connecting Gloucester, England and Carmarthen, Wales * Autovía A-48, a motorway under construction connecting Cadiz and Algecira ...

. The junction gives access to the Wye Valley, an

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. When travelling either east or west on the M4, the M48 is the more direct route for Chepstow and Caldicot.

History

Cropped image of Toll booths on the M48 - geograph

Construction

The M48 was opened as part of the M4 in 1966. Before this date traffic between

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

was either transported on a motorail service through the Severn Tunnel, used the Aust Ferry (which was unsuitable for large goods vehicles) or travelled through

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

to pass north of the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England (from North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) and South Wales (from Cardiff, Newport to Monmouthshire). Its very h ...

. The route became increasingly busy and in 1984 a report was commissioned.

Redesignation

After four years of construction, the Second Severn Crossing was opened in 1996 and was designated M4. The original stretch of motorway was designated M48 and continues to link England and Wales. Since 17 December 2018, both crossings have been toll-free. In October 2021, the

Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...

announced it was considering the possibility of reclassifying the M48 into an A-road. The government stated this is due to a large decrease in traffic following the opening of the Second Severn Crossing. The government plans to improve connectivity between local roads and the M48 in Wales but state that building new junctions to a Motorway-standard would be too costly considering the lower amount of traffic the M48 now handles. Reclassification of the motorway requires approval of both the Welsh Government and Secretary of State for Wales, with the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

stating they have no plans to reclassify the road.

Services

Severn View services Severn View services, formerly Aust Services is a motorway service station on the M48 motorway near the village of Aust, northwest of Bristol, in South West England. It is owned by Moto Hospitality, Moto. History Old building The service was co ...

are at junction 1, formerly called Aust Services when originally opened, and may also be accessed via the A403 from Avonmouth. There is a footpath leading from the services to allow pedestrians to cross the bridge. When the M4 was diverted over the Second Severn Crossing, it was anticipated that these services may close. The original building offered views of the River Severn. It was sold and operations continue in a new, smaller development on an adjacent site nearer the motorway junction.

Junctions

{, border=1 cellpadding=2 style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom: 1em; border-collapse: collapse; " class="wikitable" , - align="center" bgcolor="0080d0" style="color: " , colspan="5" , M48 motorway , - align="center" ! mile , km ! Eastbound exits (B carriageway) ! Junction ! Westbound exits (A carriageway) , - align="center" , 117.6 , 189.3 ,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

M4 , M4 J21
''Terminus'' ,

, Services M48
''Start of motorway'' , - align="center" , 120.5 , 193.9 , Avonmouth A403, Services , J1
''Services'' , Avonmouth A403, Services , - align="center" , 121.1
122.8 , 194.9
197.6 , '' Severn Bridge
Entry into England''
'' Wye Bridge'' , ''

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

Border

River Wye The River Wye (; ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn Estuary. The lower reaches of the river forms part of Wales-England bor ...

'' , '' Severn Bridge''
''Entry into Wales''
'' Wye Bridge'' , - align="center" , 123.2
123.4 , 198.2
198.6 , Gloucester, Chepstow A466 (A48)
Caerloyw, Cas – gwent , J2 ,

A466 (

)
Caerloyw, Cas – gwent , - align="center" , 130.2 , 209.6 , ''Start of motorway''

, Services M48
Cas – gwent, Gwasanaethau , ''Terminus''
M4 J23 , Newport,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

M4
Casnewydd, Caerdydd , - , colspan=5, Notes *Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown. , - Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information.Traffic England Live Traffic Condition Map
''Highways Agency'' – Locations extracted from Traffic Camera Popup identifier text Where a junction spans several hundred metres and start and end points are available, both are cited. Information above gathered from Advanced Direction Signs May 2011.

References

External links

*
The Motorway Archive – M48
{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0048 Motorways in England Motorways in Wales Transport in South Gloucestershire District Transport in Monmouthshire