A £50 million motorway junction near Bristol remains unused seven years after it was completed, a stalled link road having turned the multimillion-pound infrastructure into what has become known locally as a “ghost junction”. National Highways (formerly Highways England) finished the majority of work on the two-bridge junction off the M49, a five-mile road between Royal Portbury Docks and the Prince of Wales bridge, in 2019, with construction substantially completed by August 2020. The junction, built by Galliford Try, was designed to connect the Avonmouth Severnside Enterprise Area (ASEA) directly to the motorway network, easing congestion on local roads such as the A403 and providing access for heavy goods vehicles to the Western Approach Distribution Park — a major logistics hub occupied by companies including Amazon, Lidl and Tesco. Economic projections at the time suggested every £1 invested would yield over £30 for the local economy and that the project could support the creation of around 14,000 jobs in the long term.
The junction itself cost between £49 million and £50 million, but the 160-metre link road needed to connect it to the distribution park was never built in parallel. That missing stretch has rendered the entire junction unusable, forcing lorries and other vehicles to continue using local roads. The Department for Transport has now provided £7 million to fund the link road, and construction is finally under way. South Gloucestershire Council is leading the work, with completion expected this autumn. Peter Tyzack, a local councillor for Pilning and Severn Beach parish council and formerly chairman of planning on South Gloucestershire Council, said he was “very, very pleased” the road was being built “at long last”. “Local people are amazed it has taken so long,” he said. “It is my birthday in December and I hope to be invited to cut the ribbon.”
Who was responsible for the connecting road?
The prolonged delay stems from a dispute over who bore responsibility for building the link road. National Highways owns a 30-metre section of the proposed road — the “stub” margin allowing developers to connect to the motorway network — while Delta Properties, the main landowner of the Western Approach Distribution Park, owns the remainder. The margin for the stub roads is the same on both sides of the junction.
In 2021, South Gloucestershire Council stated that it was Delta Properties’ responsibility to build the link road. Delta refuted the claim, saying it owed “no legal obligation” to any public body to construct the road infrastructure associated with the new junction. It later agreed to work with the local authority “in the spirit of moving things forward”, including finalising designs and costings. A spokesperson for Delta told Business Live at the time that starting work was “contingent on finalising several landowner agreements with neighbouring landowners”. The company added: “[Delta] would have liked for these to have already been completed and works commenced, but these third-party approvals are still awaited.”
The land required for the link road was fragmented into many small parcels, some as tiny as two square metres, owned by a variety of entities, including companies registered in Jersey. One local councillor described these plots as “ransom strips”. South Gloucestershire Council, which did not own the land, said it would “help facilitate construction of the link road”. The council eventually resolved to use compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to acquire the necessary parcels, while continuing negotiations with landowners. In February 2023, the council announced plans to use CPOs, with National Highways providing an additional £7 million for the council to buy the land. The West of England Combined Authority had earlier agreed to supply £1 million towards the link road, but a further deficit emerged, which the Department for Transport later covered. Planning permission for the road was granted in November 2023.
Water voles, cycle tracks and further hold-ups
Even after planning permission was secured, fresh delays emerged. The discovery of water voles — a protected species — in a pond near the Amazon building on the industrial estate required ecological surveys and a licence from Natural England before work could proceed. Amazon also had to give permission for the work to take place. In February 2024, South Gloucestershire Council submitted another planning application to remove a temporary cycle track built by National Highways and replace it with a new permanent one, adding further complexity.
The council finally secured the 27 parcels of land it needed to build the link road in June 2025. Enabling works began in June 2025, with construction officially starting in September. Work on the site began in November 2025. The 160-metre road is now due to be completed and connected to the motorway junction this autumn.
A spokesman for National Highways said: “South Gloucestershire Council are building the link road after initial plans with developers fell through. We are fully supportive of their plan to connect the local authority roads to the junction and recognise the benefits that will bring to the local economy and communities.”
Planning permission has also been granted for roadside facilities at the junction, including three drive-thrus and a petrol station with a shop. McDonald’s and Popeye’s have been confirmed as tenants for two of the drive-thrus, with a coffee shop drive-thru also planned. Neither Delta Properties nor South Gloucestershire Council responded to Business Live’s latest request for comment.
