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roads.org.uk
Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
@roads.org.uk
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We write about UK road infrastructure and history! Join us for updates and other stuff from the UK's favourite roads website, www.roads.org.uk
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Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @roads.org.uk · 8d
Today I'm launching a silly roads-related side project - the Simulator, that will let you take journeys around the UK's major roads from the comfort of your chair. And to explain why I have invested so much effort in something so pointless, I wrote this. open.substack.com/pub/roadsorg...
Hello, here's my ridiculous side project
An introduction to what I write, and why I write it, and where my strange new road sign simulator fits in to all this.
open.substack.com
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
sabre-roads.org.uk
As a reminder, this is happening at 7.30pm this evening for anyone who is interested in the Maps section of our Society.
maps.sabre-roads.org.uk SABRE Maps @maps.sabre-roads.org.uk · 7d
Want to learn more about SABRE Maps? Not sure which #maps we have available or how to find them? Or what other mapping functions we have? Perhaps you just like maps, history or the railways? Join us for our first-ever Zoom session, Wed 14 Jan 2026 - free at 1930 UK/Ireland time. buff.ly/JxwTeg1
An introduction to SABRE Maps, showing the time and data of the Zoom meeting where you get to learn how to use our huge collection of Ordnance Survey OS maps of Great Britain and Ireland.
January 14, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
motorwayservices.uk
I can't find it because Google's a mess, but somebody once wrote that our website is "old fashioned", in a way "the web needs more of"

As more and more websites feel broken, stick two fingers up at AI summaries, video, data tracking and trolling by reading a massive page about a service station
History Pages - motorway services
motorwayservices.uk
January 14, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
mikeyashworth.bsky.social
A chance purchase & a rather fine "find". An original 1968 architectural perspective by Frank Weemys, no less, of the new Holford design for London Bridge, reconstructed in 1967/73. Only ever seen this in b/w before. #architecture @roads.org.uk @c20society.bsky.social

flic.kr/p/2rRsQs2
New London Bridge : architectural perspective : Frank Weemys : February 1968. A chance purchase this; from the price I suspected I would be getting something smaller and perhaps even a print. But, something larger and even allowing for the fact that Royal Mail had reduced the glass to shreds, the artwork is unscathed. And what an artwork. I enjoy the 1960s school of perspective artwork that shows the brave new age of modernism and this, undoubtedly, has that feel. It is the sort of 'look and feel' that you sometimes find on car brochures or fashion adverts from the period. This is by Frank A. Weemys, architect and illustrator, who was working in the mid-Twentieth Century. He produced the sketches for various major schemes such as the BBC TV Centre in west London and the M6 Motorway. It shows the proposals for Lord Holford's London Bridge, the project to replace the 1831 structure that was undertaken between 1967 - 1973. Holford, working with engineers Mott, Hay & Anderson and contractors Mowlem, prepared a design of some brutal simplicity with three spans of prestressed concrete coming in at 254m long from abutment to abutment. This wonderful sketch is signed and dated by Frank Weemys to February 1968 and one advantage of having lost the glass is that I am fairly certain this is an original and not a print. It is odd in that I have only ever seen black & white images, as part of the press releases from 1967/8, of the same sketch and viewpoint so I will have to try and research this a little more. It shows the view across the new structure looking eastwards and downstream with the old Hibernia Wharf on the southbank to the right along with what was still then a forest of riverside cranes and derricks in what was just still a working port. The massive building on the north bank, left side of the image adjacent to the bridge, is Adelaide House and in the distance can be seen Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. River running & a cloudswept sky above.
January 12, 2026 at 4:43 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
rantyhighwayman.bsky.social
Well there's a lovely thing, my blog hit 1.5m visits this week. Hoping to write a bit more this year.

therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com
The Ranty Highwayman
The adventures in time & space of a Chartered Civil Engineer, specialising in designing for walking and cycling.
therantyhighwayman.blogspot.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:22 AM
roads.org.uk
Just launched, something brilliantly pointless and surprisingly addictive: the Simulator will let you take virtual journeys around the UK's road network with realistic road signs and without the traffic. All you need is your web browser. Why not take a spin? sim.roads.org.uk
January 8, 2026 at 6:41 PM
roads.org.uk
Glad to be confounding your expectations, one by one.
January 7, 2026 at 6:12 PM
roads.org.uk
Today I'm launching a silly roads-related side project - the Simulator, that will let you take journeys around the UK's major roads from the comfort of your chair. And to explain why I have invested so much effort in something so pointless, I wrote this. open.substack.com/pub/roadsorg...
Hello, here's my ridiculous side project
An introduction to what I write, and why I write it, and where my strange new road sign simulator fits in to all this.
open.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
mikeyashworth.bsky.social
A spendid architects sketch of the M6 at the Lune Gorge by Frank Weemys in 1967 used, with the MOT's consent, on the front cover of the Guide to Appleby & N. Westmorland Councils. The heavily engineered section opened in 1970. @roads.org.uk @sabre-roads.org.uk @showmeasign.online

flic.kr/p/2rQHmUG
Guide to Appleby and North Westmorland : Appleby Borough Council and North Westmorland Rural District Council : nd [c.1970]. A guide to the rural expanse of the then North Westmorland Rural District Council and Appleby Borough Council, the latter being the county town of Westmorland, and produced by the Joint Publicity and Tourism Committee of both councils. The booklet gives information as to attractions, services and amenities of a sparsely populated area of northern England - the 1969 population estimates were 1,800 for Appleby and 15,800 for the Rural District. Under the 1974 local government reorganisation they would be bundled up into Cumbria as part of Eden District Council; subsequently they now form part of the new Westmorland & Furness Council. The cover to the guide depicts one of the greatest changes to the area in the Twentieth Century; the construction of the M6 motorway as seen here cutting through the Lune Gorge in west of the Rural District as it headed north and up over the notorious Shap Fell towards Carlisle and Scotland. The Committee had gained consent from the Ministry of Transport and Scott, Wilson, Kirkpatrick and Partners to reproduce several illustrations including this cover. It is a fine colour sketch of the planned motorway drawn in 1967 to illustrate the scale of the new road in this challenging landscape. It is by Frank Weemys, architect and illustrator, who was working in the mid-Twentieth Century. He produced the sketches for various major schemes such as the BBC TV Centre in west London. In colour it shows the sparsely used new road snaking its way towards distant moorland with an inclined overbridge cutting midway across the scene. This section of the M6, almost the final link, opened on 23 October 1970 and interestingly, contracts have been let for major repair works to the many bridge structure on this section of the motorway commencing in 2026.
January 7, 2026 at 2:19 PM
roads.org.uk
Even artist’s impressions of GLC road projects were drawn with the GLC’s custom designed street lights, like this view of the unbuilt West Cross Route!
lccmunicipal.bsky.social LCC municipal @lccmunicipal.bsky.social · 13d
Another of J.D.M. Harvey’s drawings of an unbuilt section of the West Cross Route, this time passing Olympia. It was produced as part of Husband & Co’s consulting engineer’s report to the Greater London Council in May 1970.
A black and white sketch or painting of a dual carriageway elevated motorway (two lanes in each direction). It is the proposed (but unbuilt) West Cross Route passing Olympia. The great glass and iron arch of Olympia’s roof can be seen on the right.
January 2, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
motorwayservices.uk
Why nobody knows what colour this road sign is
Nobody knows what colour this road sign is
If you think this sign should be green, you're wrong.
motorwayservices.uk
December 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
lccmunicipal.bsky.social
The London County Council’s Strand Underpass, opened in 1964 and created through the conversion of part of the former Kingsway tram tunnel. The work, undertaken by John Mowlem & Co., cost just over £1 million. Here is an LCC brochure marking its completion.
The cover is a black and white photo of cars driving through the brightly lit tunnel. The title is “LCC Strand Underpass” which is written across an orange banner. Photo credit: Uncredited Taken from: LCC Strand Underpass Published by: London County Council Date: Undated, but appears to be 1964 Two photos titled “works in progress”. The top photo features the tunnel lighting being installed. The bottom photo shows the tunnel being lined. Photo credit: Uncredited Taken from: LCC Strand Underpass Published by: London County Council Date: Undated, but appears to be 1964 A photo of the central wall of the old tramway tunnel being demolished, the weight now being carried by newly inserted structural beams spanning the width of the enlarged tunnel. Photo credit: Uncredited Taken from: LCC Strand Underpass Published by: London County Council Date: Undated, but appears to be 1964 A photo of the tunnel exit ramp onto Kingsway during the construction phase. Photo credit: Uncredited Taken from: LCC Strand Underpass Published by: London County Council Date: Undated, but appears to be 1964
December 27, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
lccmunicipal.bsky.social
The opening ceremony brochure for Westway and the West Cross Route from July 1970. “Guests will be invited to […] proceed with a police escort to Westway where the Minister will be invited by the Leader of the Council to cut a ribbon on the westbound carriageway and to declare the new roadways open”
The cover is an uncredited black and white sketch of Westway looking westwards from the Paddington end. Opening of Westway and West Cross Route. Order of Proceedings Guests will assemble in the Ballroom of Lord's Tavern. 10.15 am The Leader of the Greater London Council, Mr Desmond Plummer, TD, DL, JP., will welcome the guests, and will invite the Minister of Transport, the Right Honourable John Peyton, MP, to speak. The Chairman of the Environmental Planning Committee, Mr Robert Vigars, will speak in thanks to the Minister. 10.40 am approx. Guests will be invited to board cars and coaches and proceed with a police escort to Westway where the Minister will be invited by the Leader of the Council to cut a ribbon on the westbound carriageway and to declare the new roadways open. After touring the new roadways guests will return to Lord's Tavern where light refreshments will be served until 12.30 pm. Guests are asked to assist by entering and leaving the vehicles as speedily as possible. Taken from: Westway and West Cross Route opening day proceedings Published by: Greater London Council Date: July 1970 This new section of Westway and the first part of the West Cross Route were designed for the Council by Messrs. G. Maunsell and Partners, consulting engineers, in association with Mr P.F. Stott, Joint Director of the Council's Department of Planning and Transportation, Mr D. Dennington, the Council's Traffic Commissioner and Director of Development, and Mr C.A. Belcher, the Council's Director of Mechanical and Electrical Services. The consultant architects, who also prepared the landscaping proposals, were Messrs. William Holford and Partners in association with the Council's Architect, Sir Hubert Bennett. Mr K.H. Blessley, the Council's Valuer and Estates Surveyor, carried out the acquisition of the necessary property. The main contractor was John Laing Construction Limited. Westway consists of two and a half miles of elevated road, the longest of its kind in Europe. It provides a direct link from the A40 at Wood Lane to Marylebone. where the Council has also implemented extensive improvements in recent years— Marylebone Flyover and Euston Road Underpass have been constructed, and Marylebone Road has been widened into a dual-carriageway. The first section of the West Cross Route runs from the elevated roundabout east of the White City as far as Holland Park Avenue. In all, the two roads cost some £33 million. The roads are part of the GLC's developing road pattern in West London, and will cater for much of the traffic now filtering through residential streets. Plans are in hand for another section of the West Cross Route as far as the river, and for links from there with Battersea Bridge and Wandsworth Bridge, and this will assist further in the GLC's aim to improve the environment of this area of London. The eventual extension of the West Cross Route south via a new river crossing together with the extension north to Willesden, where it will connect with the link to the M1., forms part of the GLC's primary road programme for the future. An outline map of the West Cross Route and Westway. The map shows the proposed (but unbuilt) extension of the West Cross Route southwards.
December 26, 2025 at 10:14 AM
roads.org.uk
How do you fix the M4 into London? The Ministry of Transport thought you couldn't. But a team of engineers had other ideas, and wanted to extend it as a right-hand-drive elevated road across London to Barking. ("Barking" was the operative word in their plan.) www.roads.org.uk/ringways/wes...
M4 and A4
Serving Reading, Bristol and South Wales, the A4 and M4 are one of London's most important approaches. But the wildest fantasies of the sixties couldn't overcome its trickier problems.
www.roads.org.uk
December 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
mikeyashworth.bsky.social
Oh I say! @showmeasign.online @roads.org.uk @sabre-roads.org.uk A fine, early M1 sign c.1964

flic.kr/p/2n7DeXz
318 M1 Motorway
In June 1964 my Dad and his parents stopped off in Coventry on their way home from Scotland. Some pictures taken by Dad, some by his Dad.
flic.kr
December 23, 2025 at 9:48 PM
roads.org.uk
The UK pioneered changeable road signs of all types - we gave the world the matrix signal, but we also had a go at all sorts of other novel ideas. Take a tour of some of the wildest ideas of the 60s, part of our Mixed Signals long read. www.roads.org.uk/articles/mix...
New signs for new ideas
While the headlines were still full of fog worries, and the Ministry of Transport was mainly preoccupied with emergency warning signs on motorways, local authorities were tasked with keeping the…
www.roads.org.uk
December 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Roads.org.uk 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
maps.sabre-roads.org.uk
For this week's #MapMonday, you can discover the OS London Two Inch Ministry of Transport maps from 1922, and see just where the A1, A2, A3 etc all meet at "point zero" in London. Or not...

buff.ly/BAr8iFr
December 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM
roads.org.uk
Fancy a stroll on a motorway? Before the M621 opened to connect Leeds with the motorway network you could do just that. #leeds www.roads.org.uk/blog/walk-m621
A walk on the M621
Fancy a stroll? In 1972, the City of Leeds was about to open its new South East Urban Motorway and proudly showed off the achievement with a "walkabout" event.
www.roads.org.uk
December 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
roads.org.uk
Last week I added a new video to my YouTube channel featuring the strange and brilliant Studland Motor Road. There's a whole article about it on the website too, complete with a photo gallery to provide some summery seaside sunshine to your dark December day. www.roads.org.uk/articles/stu...
Photograph of a road approaching a drive-on ferry in bright sunshine. In the foreground is a warning sign showing a car driving off a quayside with the text "ferry slipway 150 yds" Photograph of the Sandbanks ferry setting off across the water, with several cars and a double decker bus on board Photograph of an old yellowed road sign that reads "Poole, Bournemouth via toll ferry"
December 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
roads.org.uk
One of London's unbuilt urban motorways was so unpopular that government officials decided to keep its plans a secret and pretend that they had never planned it at all. Their plan to drive a motorway through Barnes was the worst kept secret in West London. #barnes www.roads.org.uk/ringways/rin...
Ringway 2 Western Section
A critically important link in London's proposed urban motorway network - but fierce opposition from the locals made the authorities scared to ever reveal its route.
www.roads.org.uk
December 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
roads.org.uk
Yesterday we took the deepest dive into the untold history of an unremarked piece of street furniture, and how detail is everything if you want to forge a city's identity. roadsorguk.substack.com/p/london-in-...
Silhouette of a street light against a blue sky, over which is written "London, in a different light: It was specially designed never to be noticed. And now it's disappearing, nobody has noticed its absence. It's London's own bespoke street light."
December 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
roads.org.uk
Just published - we're slowly losing something we didn't know we had: a street light designed just for London. I've taken a deep (and deeply geeky) dive into the history of an everyday object that was designed not to be noticed. #london roadsorguk.substack.com/p/london-in-...
Silhouette of a modern style street light against a deep blue sky Photograph of Marylebone Road with Euston Tower in the distance, seen from the central reservation of the road. A street light stands in the foreground Engineering drawing showing precise dimensions for a direction sign assembly and a lighting column View along the A316 Country Way, with the road rising on to a flyover in the distance. A street light arches over the view and a line of similar lights marches into the distance
December 18, 2025 at 6:41 PM
roads.org.uk
Just published: a drive through of the Studland Motor Road, a little road in Dorset that's the legal ancestor of the motorway network. Join us for a drive through the dunes! #dorset www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQPr...
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
www.youtube.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:58 PM
roads.org.uk
The government is still figuring out how to pay for new infrastructure, but back in January one thing was already becoming clear - the five year cycles of Road Investment Periods weren't delivering any of their promises. www.roads.org.uk/blog/all-cha...
All change
In July 2024, a new Government entered office with a very different set of priorities. What does it mean for a faltering roads programme?
www.roads.org.uk
December 16, 2025 at 5:47 PM
roads.org.uk
The UK's highest numbered motorway is too narrow to have hard shoulders, too short to fit in a lay-by and has a junction named for a toll plaza that doesn't exist. The oddball M898 is full of surprises. #glasgow www.roads.org.uk/motorway/m898
M898
The highest-numbered motorway in the UK is a tiny spur that connects the Erskine Bridge to the motorway network west of Glasgow.
www.roads.org.uk
December 15, 2025 at 5:08 PM