Stanworth rock cutting, view west, 14 February 1997
Stanworth rock cutting, view west (see all photos of the same view)
The shape of the new motorway can now be seen at Stanworth, with drainage gulleys being installed on the slopes of the rock cutting. At the bottom of the picture, the carriageways run out at the boundary fence where contract 2 begins.
What's new
The road that made no sense
It was the UK's only single-carriageway motorway, and twenty years ago it ceased to exist. This is the story of the strange fascination it held, and of my place in history.
The forever bottleneck, part 2
The second part of the story, where we learn why exactly the M4 gets narrower on the final approach to Europe’s biggest city.
The forever bottleneck, part 1
The M4 into London was one of the UK's earliest and most ambitious motorway projects. It was bold, pioneering... and almost instantly regretted.
Have you seen...
M1 Architecture
The most unique motorway in Britain owes its identity to its fifties architecture. Much of it is in danger of being removed or irreperably altered. This page documents it in detail.
