If you were driving through Swansea en-route to west Wales 50 years ago you might well have been delayed by yet another traffic jam on the A48 in Morriston. But a major engineering project was about to change that.
On September 16, 1972, a 4.5-mile section of motorway from Lon Las to Llangyfelach opened, running north of the A48. It required 14 new bridges – including one over the River Tawe – the excavation of huge quantities of rock, and the diversion of national utility lines. It cost around £4 million.
The idea of a northern Morriston bypass was first drafted in the mid-1930s before being penned in as a scheme in 1965 by the Secretary of State for Wales of the day. The then Swansea City Council worked with the Welsh Office and others to deliver the new section of M4 motorway. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
