The Almondsbury Interchange in South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...

, is one of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's largest motorway stack interchange

Stack interchange

A stack interchange is a free-flowing grade separated junction between two roads.In countries where one drives on the right, left turns are handled by semi-directional flyover/under ramps...

s. The interchange is one of only three four-level stacks in the UK, spanning a range of 0.5 km by 0.5 km. It is the interchange for the M5

M5 motorway

The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...

 at junction 15 and M4

M4 motorway

The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...

 at junction 20, and is situated at the northern fringes of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 close to the village of Almondsbury

Almondsbury

Almondsbury is a large village near junction 16 of the M5 motorway, in South Gloucestershire, England.-Description:The village is split by a steep hill, part of the escarpment overlooking the Severn floodplain. At the bottom of the hill is Lower Almondsbury where a pub and hotel, The Bowl Inn, is...

, the Aztec West

Aztec West

Aztec West is a business park in South Gloucestershire, England, situated at the northern fringes of Greater Bristol, near Bradley Stoke and Patchway. It is close to the M4 and M5 motorways and the Almondsbury Interchange. Adjacent is the A38 trunk road....

 industrial estate, and Bradley Stoke

Bradley Stoke

Bradley Stoke is a dormitory town/suburb in South Gloucestershire, England, situated on the north side of the city of Bristol. Named after the local Bradley Brook and Stoke Brook streams, the town was planned in the 1970s and building began in 1987...

.

Almondsbury Interchange was the first four-level interchange in the United Kingdom. It was designed by Freeman Fox and Robert Earley.
The interchange was built by Richard Costain Ltd

Costain Group

Costain Group plc is a British construction and civil engineering company headquartered in Maidenhead. It was part of the original Channel Tunnel consortium and is involved in Private Finance Initiative projects.-History:...

, with work commencing in May 1964. The bridge was opened by the Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 on 8 September 1966.

The interchange is often a traffic hot-spot, especially in the morning and evening rush hours. It is overlooked by the RAC

RAC plc

RAC Limited is a breakdown company in the United Kingdom supplying products and services for motorists. Initially formed as the "Associate Section" of the Royal Automobile Club, it was incorporated as R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in 1978. It was then sold by the members of the Royal Automobile...

 Tower. Traffic travelling northbound on the M5 intending to use the Second Severn Crossing

Second Severn Crossing

The Second Severn Crossing is a bridge which carries the M4 motorway over the River Severn between England and Wales, inaugurated on 5 June 1996 by HRH The Prince of Wales to augment the traffic capacity of the original Severn Bridge built in 1966...

 (or those on the crossing wishing to use the M5 southbound from Avonmouth onwards) can bypass the interchange by using the M49 motorway

M49 motorway

The M49 motorway is a 5 mile motorway west of Bristol, England, that forms a shortcut between the M5 motorway and the Second Severn Bridge on the M4 motorway. It was constructed in 1996, at the same time as the bridge and is unique as it is only accessible from other motorways...

.