79-569: The Chiswick flyover is a short elevated section of the M4 motorway in the western approaches to London, United Kingdom. The flyover in the west London suburb of Chiswick , was opened in 1959 with the intention of reducing congestion and the impact on local traffic of vehicles travelling around London on the North and South Circular Roads and between London and the west on the Great West Road . Although it
158-546: A branch line was completed from Slough to Windsor & Eton Central , opposite Windsor Castle , for Queen Victoria 's convenience. Slough has 96 listed buildings . There are 1918 saw a large area of agricultural land to the west of Slough developed as an army motor repair depot, used to store and repair huge numbers of motor vehicles coming back from the battlefields of the First World War in Flanders . In April 1920,
237-588: A U-turn at either of them. Junction 8/9 near Maidenhead , Berkshire , and High Wycombe , Buckinghamshire is the only one in the UK with dual numbers. This arose at the time when the M4 turned north near junction 8, where it met the A308, and headed for the original junction 9, where the motorway ended at a roundabout interchange with the A4 . When the westward extension was opened, junction 8
316-620: A field near the Great Western Road Railway Station belonging to the North Star Inn . Originally held on the first Tuesday of every month, the Cattle Market's popularity soon saw this increased to every Tuesday. A move to Wexham Street was necessitated by the postwar redevelopment of the town. The Slough Cattle Market was run by Messrs Buckland and Sons until its final closure in 1988. In 1906, James Horlick , one of
395-587: A larger Tesco Extra . The Heart of Slough Project is plan for the large-scale redevelopment of the town centre as a focus and cultural quarter for the creative media, information and communications industries created a mixed-use complex, multi-functional buildings, visual landmarks and a public space in the Thames Valley . Approval was given for the £400 million project by Slough Borough Council's planning committee on 9 July 2009, and work began in 2010 for completion in 2018. In December 2009, two key components of
474-614: A new bus station began in March 2010, following weeks of demolition work to half of the existing bus station and the removal of Compair House near the railway station. It was opened in May 2011. Redevelopment on this scale has been strongly criticised by conservation groups. The Twentieth Century Society has stated that [A] tragically high quantity of good buildings have been demolished in Slough in recent years, including grand Art-Deco-styled factories by
553-456: A new business park on a 125 acres (51 ha) site north of the M4 were submitted in 2007 to Cardiff Council . The developers of the business park, St Modwen Developments , would likely fund the new junction, which would be on the A469 . A freedom of information request in 2010 to Cardiff Council shows that whilst the land that would enable this junction should continue to be strategically protected,
632-500: A pilot scheme and then a permanent arrangement from 2001. A lower speed limit was introduced along this section at the same time. The 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (5.6 km) bus lane was on the eastbound carriageway; from the western end of the Chiswick Flyover near Brentford to junction 3 (A312), covering part of the 15-mile (24 km) journey between Heathrow Airport and central London. The lane which had no intermediate exits
711-574: A reduction in road spray from other vehicles and improved visibility. This special surface was publicised in an episode of the BBC's Tomorrow's World programme. This was the site of the first trial of the new road surface when it was laid down in 1993. The elevated section of the M4 in West London, built in the 1960s, is mostly directly above the A4 and extends over parts of Brentford 's Golden Mile . This section
790-535: A restricted two lane section through the Brynglas Tunnels. Heavy congestion occurs along this stretch and either side of it at peak hours." Data from driver location signs and location marker posts are used to provide distance and carriageway identification information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown. Although not signed, European route E30 includes most of
869-647: A tolled bypass in 2007 and later abandoned it for financial reasons. An extension to the Newport Southern Distributor Road through the old Corus steel works was considered. This road is already a dual carriageway. A public consultation exercise on options for improving the capacity of the M4 corridor around Newport opened on 5 March 2012. Its website states that: "the motorway around Newport does not conform to today's motorway standards. It lacks continuous hard shoulders, has closely spaced junctions with sub-standard slip road visibility and narrows to
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#1732852599543948-682: Is Heathrow Airport , about 5 miles (8 km) east of Slough town centre. This part of the Thames Valley is notable for generally having the warmest daytime summer temperatures on average in the British Isles . Typically, according to 1981–2010 normals, the average high temperature in July is 23.5 °C (74.3 °F.) Rainfall is low compared to most of the British Isles, with under 600 mm (23.62 in) annually, and 105 days reporting over 1 mm of rain. Faith in Slough (2021) According to
1027-556: Is a back entrance to RAF Welford , a Second World War airfield and now an RAF/ USAF military installation mainly used for storing munitions. The M4 entrance allows easier access for the large vehicles used to carry the munitions. Plans for the "missing" Junction 31, also known as the Thornhill interchange , for which planning permission was originally granted in September 1991 (but subsequently expired), were rekindled after proposals for
1106-606: Is housed in the Mere. Recent new offices include those of Nintendo , Black and Decker and Abbey business centres . The registered office of Furniture Village lies in the town. The motor trade has long been represented in Slough. Until 1966, Citroën assembled cars in a Liverpool Road factory (later used by Mars Confectionery ), and it retains its UK headquarters in the town. Ford built D Series and Cargo lorries at its factory in Langley (a former Hawker Aircraft site) from 1936 to
1185-448: Is not classified as part of the M25 motorway ). In July 2011, a lorry fire in one tunnel closed the motorway. Although there were no injuries and no deaths, the tunnel remained closed and a contraflow system was in place in the remaining tunnel for about one month, causing major travel delays. In June 1999, the M4 bus lane was created on the third lane between junctions 2 and 3, initially as
1264-540: Is significantly lower due to the large shares of the British Asian and Black population speaking English as their first language. Aside from English, the most commonly spoken languages are Punjabi , Polish , and Urdu . Figures from the 2021 census showed that 32% of Slough's population identified as Christian, 29.4% as Muslim, 11.4% as Sikh, 7.8% as Hindu, 0.5% as Buddhist, 0.1% as Jewish, 0.5% as having other religions, 13% as having no religion and 5.4% did not answer
1343-551: Is the responsibility of National Highways . The 76 miles (122 km) in Wales is the responsibility of the South Wales Trunk Road Agent . For the majority of its length, the national speed limit applies. Exceptions include the following: The first section of smart motorway on the M4, between junctions 19 (M32) and 20 (M5) north of Bristol, has variable speed limits and includes a part-time hard-shoulder. Completion
1422-485: The 2021 census , Slough is a large town with a population of 158,400 of which 46.9% of the population was Asian , 35.9% white , 7.5% black , 4% mixed race , 1.2% Arab and 4.5% of other ethnic heritage. This makes the town one of the most ethnically diverse local authorities in the country outside of London. Despite its diverse population, English is the most spoken language in 2021, with over 110,212 citing English as their first language. Those stating other languages
1501-562: The M49 was opened to link the new crossing with the M5 at Avonmouth . The new M49 shortened the route between South Wales and the South West, and reduced traffic at the busy M4/M5 junction at Almondsbury. In April 2005, speed checks carried out by police camera vans between junction 14 and junction 18 led to a public protest, involving a "go-slow" of several hundred vehicles along the affected sections of
1580-569: The Municipal Borough of Slough was replaced by a larger non-metropolitan district with borough status called Slough. The enlarged district gained the Britwell and Wexham Court areas, and was transferred from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire. The borough was enlarged in 1995 to take in Colnbrook with Poyle . In 1998 Slough Borough Council became a unitary authority when Berkshire County Council
1659-511: The River Neath , which would allow access onto the stretch of the M4 from junction 43 westward. The second, eastern junction leads to and from the A48 towards Port Talbot . As a result, one can travel for almost 2 miles (3.2 km) on the motorway in either direction, both joining and then leaving the motorway at junction 41. Junction 44 is unusual in that the eastbound entrance dives under the inside of
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#17328525995431738-655: The Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it. The line of the motorway from London to Bristol runs closely in parallel with the A4 . After crossing the River Severn , toll-free since 17 December 2018,
1817-554: The county town of Reading . Slough is within the Greater London Urban Area and on the border with London Borough of Hillingdon and London Borough of Hounslow . Heathrow Airport is 5 miles away. Nearby towns are Uxbridge to the northeast and Beaconsfield to the north. Most of the area that now makes up Slough was anciently part of Buckinghamshire , however, Poyle was historically in Middlesex. The town developed by
1896-557: The 1950s until the site was redeveloped for housing in the 1990s. Ferrari , Mercedes , Fiat and Maserati now have offices in the town. Located roughly 20 miles (32 km) west of Central London , Slough is a commuter town near Heathrow Airport (7 miles (11 km) south-east), Uxbridge (6 miles (9.7 km) north-east), Maidenhead (5 miles (8.0 km) west) and Staines (7 miles (11 km) south-east). Slough residents also commute to Windsor, Reading and Bracknell as well as Central London. There are large passenger movements in
1975-530: The 1960s, Gerry Anderson 's film company was based in Slough, and his Supermarionation series, including Thunderbirds , were filmed there. The UK headquarters of Mars, Incorporated is in Slough, the main factory having been established in 1932 by Forrest Mars Sr. and Frank C. Mars . It produced the Mars Bar in Slough over 70 years ago. One of the Mars factories has been demolished and some production has moved to
2054-630: The 2012 London Olympics. Preparations were under way for the regeneration of the Britwell suburb of Slough, involving tearing down a dilapidated block of flats and the closing of the public house the Jolly Londoner in Wentworth Avenue and replacing them with new homes, as well as relocating the shopping parade in the street to nearby Kennedy Park. As part of the Heart of Slough project, construction work on
2133-584: The 23 civilian lives recorded lost in the borough area. After the war, several further large housing developments arose to take large numbers of people migrating from war-damaged London. Between 1955 and 1957 the town was the site of the Slough experiment , a large-scale road safety trial. The old Slough library was opened on 28 November 1974. It was officially called the Robert Taylor Library, named after Alderman Taylor in recognition of his contribution to
2212-461: The Czech Republic. The European head offices of major IT companies such as BlackBerry , McAfee , Computer Associates , PictureTel and Compusys (among others) are all in the town. O 2 is headquartered in the town across four buildings. The town is also home to the business support organisation Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Group and National Foundation for Educational Research , which
2291-581: The Government sold the site and its contents to the Slough Trading Co. Ltd. Repair of ex-army vehicles continued until 1925, when the Slough Trading Company Act was passed allowing the company (renamed Slough Estates Ltd ) to establish an industrial estate . Spectacular growth and employment ensued, with Slough attracting workers from many parts of the UK and abroad. Slough Town Hall , which
2370-462: The M4 would terminate at Tredegar Park west of Newport, and following the creation of the Welsh Office that the Government became committed to a high-standard dual carriageway to Carmarthenshire . The English section of the motorway was completed on 22 December 1971 when the 50-mile (80 km) stretch between junctions 9 and 15 Maidenhead and Swindon ) was opened to traffic. The Welsh section
2449-575: The M4. The entire route runs 6,530 kilometres (4,060 mi) between Cork in Ireland and Omsk in Russia. [REDACTED] Geographic data related to M4 motorway at OpenStreetMap Download coordinates as: Slough Slough ( / s l aʊ / ) is a town in Berkshire , England, in the Thames Valley 20 miles (32 km) west of central London and 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Reading , at
Chiswick flyover - Misplaced Pages Continue
2528-593: The Mereoak roundabout and part of the A33 Swallowfield Bypass near Shinfield , and also the conversion of the two existing bridges, one of which is available only to pedestrians and cyclists and the other to buses. It also involved the movement of the local Highways Agency and Fire Service offices, and the construction of a long footbridge network, a new bus lane and a new gyratory . Sound barriers for nearby residential areas were also installed. In April 2008,
2607-624: The United Kingdom. Work started in autumn 2018 and was completed ahead of schedule in December 2021 at a cost of £848 million. Further conversions to smart motorways have been halted indefinitely. The Brynglas Tunnels carry the M4 under Brynglas Hill in Newport. The 360-metre-long (390 yd) tunnels are the first and only twin–bored tunnels in the UK motorway network (the Dartford Tunnel
2686-649: The Virgin Church in Langley was probably built in the late 11th or early 12th century, though it has been rebuilt and enlarged several times. From the mid-17th century, stagecoaches began to pass through Slough and Salt Hill (later absorbed into Slough), which became locations for the second stage to change horses on the journey out from London. By 1838 and the opening of the Great Western Railway , Upton-cum-Chalvey's parish population had reached 1,502. In 1849,
2765-645: The civic centre and is supporting the Campaign to Save Slough's Heritage in their request for a review of the decision. During November 2016, the Slough Queensmere and Observatory shopping centres were sold to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in a deal worth £130 million. Slough is 20 miles (32 km) west of Charing Cross , central London , 2 miles (3 km) north of Windsor , 5 miles (8 km) east of Maidenhead , 11 miles (18 km) south-east of High Wycombe and 19 miles (31 km) north-east of
2844-598: The columns supporting the road. Rumours arose that the bodies of the victims of the Kray twins , notorious London gangsters, were entombed in the concrete pillars of the flyover. 51°29′31″N 0°16′58″W / 51.49200°N 0.28270°W / 51.49200; -0.28270 M4 motorway The M4 , originally the London-South Wales Motorway , is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales . The English section to
2923-546: The country and the world for labour since the 1920s, which has helped shape it into a major trading centre. In 2017, unemployment stood at 1.4%, one-third the UK average of 4.5%. Slough has the highest concentration of UK HQs of global companies outside London. Slough Trading Estate is the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe, with over 17,000 jobs in 400 businesses. Blackberry , McAfee , Burger King , DHL , Telefonica and Lego have head offices in
3002-427: The course of the A4 which is directly beneath it, effectively forming a two-tier road system. It then turns approximately west north-west across Boston Manor Park before the M4 returns to ground level, and widens from two to three lanes in each direction as it heads west through the grounds of Osterley Park . The flyover, built at a cost of £6 million, was provided to relieve the congestion at Chiswick Roundabout ,
3081-580: The decision to formally abandon the proposed Junction 31 Thornhill was made in October 2007 and there had been no subsequent mention of it in Cardiff Council Strategic or Planning meetings since. In South Wales, the M4 has to thread its way through mountainous terrain and built-up areas, so there are some unusual junction layouts. Junction 27 ( High Cross ) is a normal grade-separated roundabout junction, but has severe space constraints: traffic joining
3160-479: The decision to preserve a rare Vickers machine gun pillbox and turn it into a bat roost was announced by the developers. Tolls were charged on the Severn Bridge(s) from opening until 2018. In 1966 the toll was 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 pre-decimal pence each-way for cars, rising to £1 in the late 1980s. Around 1991 the toll was doubled but charged in the westbound direction only, to reduce queuing. After 1996,
3239-470: The estate. This was intended to create environmentally sustainable buildings, open green spaces, two hotels, a conference centre, cafés, restaurants and better transport facilities to improve links to Slough town centre and the surrounding residential areas. It was claimed that the plan would create more than 4,100 new jobs and contribute around £100m a year to Slough's economy. If both plans went ahead, nearly £1 billion would be spent on redeveloping Slough over
Chiswick flyover - Misplaced Pages Continue
3318-454: The expansion and amalgamation of villages along the Great West Road . Over the years Slough has expanded greatly, incorporating a number of different villages. Original villages that are now suburbs of Slough include Chalvey , Cippenham , Colnbrook , Langley , Poyle , Upton , and Wexham . Named neighbourhoods include Brands Hill, Britwell , Huntercombe , Manor Park, Salt Hill , Upton Lea and Windsor Meadows . The urban area merges into
3397-429: The founders of the eponymous malted milk company, opened a purpose-built red-brick factory near Slough Railway Station to manufacture his malted milk product. In 2015, the business was sold by Glaxo Smith Kline and in 2017, manufacturing at the site ceased altogether. The site is currently proposed to become residential making use of the original buildings as much as possible. Starting in the 1920s, Slough Estates Ltd ,
3476-440: The intersection of the M4 , M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire . In 2021 Census, the population of the town was 143,184. In 2021, the wider Borough of Slough had a population of 158,500. Slough borders the ceremonial counties of Greater London and Buckinghamshire . Slough's population is one of the most ethnically diverse in the United Kingdom, attracting people from across
3555-404: The junction of Chiswick High Road , North Circular Road , South Circular Road and the Great West Road , caused by 40,000 cars per day using the junction. The opening ceremony for the flyover, which was performed by Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield , took place on 30 September 1959. The second section opened on 25 November 1964. In 1964 the flyover became part of the M4 motorway and by 1969
3634-420: The junction, effectively creating a "right-turn" on a roundabout. Similarly, slip roads pass under or over the main motorway at junctions 41 and 42. There have been calls to close the slip roads at junctions 40 and 41 to improve traffic flow. The motorway has only two lanes on this stretch and is a major traffic congestion blackspot. The short slip roads have not been modernised. A small-scale trial of closing
3713-500: The last 20 or so years, there has been a major shift from a manufacturing to an information-based economy, with the closure of many factories (some of which had been in Slough for many decades). The factories are rapidly being replaced by office buildings. Hundreds of major companies have sited in Slough Trading Estate over the years, with its proximity to London Heathrow Airport and good motorway connections being attractive. In
3792-449: The library service. The library was officially opened by the Mayor, Councillor DR Peters, on 15 May 1975. It was demolished in May 2017 as part of the programme of redevelopment in the town centre. In the 21st century, Slough has seen major redevelopment of the town centre. Old buildings are being replaced with new offices and shopping complexes. Tesco has replaced an existing superstore with
3871-415: The likes of Wallis Gilbert and high-quality post-war offices. More are to come down as the town tries to erase its past and reinvent itself from scratch. Despite famously heckling Slough, John Betjeman 's praise for the town hall's architecture as 'a striving for unity out of chaos' in 1948 has never been so relevant as today. C20 believes that the redevelopment of the town hall would be an act of vandalism to
3950-665: The mid-19th century, the only major employer apart from the brickfields was James Elliman , who started as a draper in Chandos Street. In 1847, he changed business and manufactured his Elliman's Embrocation and Royal Embrocation horse liniment at factories in Wellington Street and Chandos Street. Elliman became a major benefactor to the town, and is remembered today in the names of local roads and schools. In September 1851, William Thomas Buckland , an auctioneer and surveyor from nearby Wraysbury , began livestock sales in
4029-806: The morning and evening rush hours. Road transport in Slough includes: Slough is served by Great Western Railway stations at Burnham , Slough and Langley . Slough station is a junction between the Great Western Main Line and the Slough to Windsor & Eton Line to allow passengers to connect for Windsor & Eton Central . Reading : Great Western Railway operate fast services to Reading every half an hour which take about 15 minutes, as well as slow services every fifteen minutes which take 30 minutes. London Paddington : Great Western Railway operate express services to London every half an hour which take 14 minutes, as well as slow services every fifteen minutes taking 26 minutes. Slough has services on
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#17328525995434108-737: The motorway follows the A48 , to terminate at the Pont Abraham services in Carmarthenshire . The M4 is the only motorway in Wales apart from its two spurs : the A48(M) and the M48 . The major towns and cities along the route—a distance of approximately 189 miles (304 km)—include Slough , Reading , Swindon , Bristol, Newport , Cardiff , Bridgend , Port Talbot and Swansea . A new road from London to South Wales
4187-461: The motorway from a single slip road onto the westbound carriageway from the A48 at junction 38. There is no exit from the motorway at this junction. Junction 41 comprises two different junctions; one for local traffic to and from the west and one from the east. The former leads to and from a spur leading to the roundabout in Briton Ferry , formerly known as junction 41a, and the original bridge over
4266-441: The motorway must initially travel in the opposite direction to the intended direction of travel, before making a sharp left-hand turn from the slip road onto the motorway. At the time of construction, junction numbers 30 and 31 were reserved for future intermediate interchanges. Junction 30 ( Cardiff Gate ) has since been added, but there are no current plans to construct Junction 31 ( A469 road ). Junction 39 can only be used to access
4345-468: The motorway. Between 2007 and January 2010, the section from Castleton (junction 29) to Coryton (junction 32) was widened to six lanes. The scheme was formally opened on 25 January 2010 by Ieuan Wyn Jones the Deputy First Minister for Wales . During 2009, the Newport section of the motorway between junctions 23a and 29 was upgraded with a new concrete central barrier. In February 2010, it
4424-641: The neighbouring parishes of Burnham , a small area of Taplow near Cippenham , Farnham Royal and Stoke Poges which remain in the county of Buckinghamshire and Datchet which is in Berkshire. Eton is narrowly buffered by the Jubilee River and by green space (mainly the college playing fields) from part of Slough, and the two areas formerly formed the Eton birth, marriages and deaths registration district. The nearest Met Office weather observing station to Slough
4503-555: The next 20 years. In 2009, Herschel Park (known as Upton Park until 1949), named for astronomer William Herschel , was relandscaped in a multimillion-pound effort to bring it back to its former Victorian era glory. The park was featured in an episode of the documentary programme Who Do You Think You Are? focusing on the TV presenter Davina McCall . In 2010, £2 million was set aside to improve disabled access to Slough railway station in preparation for an expected increase in use during
4582-453: The operator of the original Slough Trading Estate , created and operated many more estates in the UK and abroad. The Slough Trading Estate meant that the town was largely insulated from many of the effects of recession . For many years, Slough's economy was mainly manufacturing-based. The company Zwicky Limited, a manufacturer of liquid pumps, filters, compression valves and aircraft refuelling units, runway sweepers were based in Slough. In
4661-503: The parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey (including the old village of Upton) and a smaller part of the neighbouring parish of Stoke Poges . The town was then governed by an elected local board. Such local government districts were converted into urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894 . In 1900 the Slough urban district was enlarged to absorb most of the residual parts of the old Upton-cum-Chalvey parish that had been outside
4740-640: The project were signed: the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) signed its agreement to provide £11m of funding for infrastructure and Thames Valley University (TVU) courses which were due to remain in the town found a new home at the Centre in Farnham Road, Slough. In parallel to the town centre redevelopment plan, Segro (owner of the Slough Trading Estate) planned to spend £600 million over the following 20 years on
4819-417: The question. Further information can be found on the page Demographics of Slough . There is one main tier of local government covering Slough, at unitary authority level: Slough Borough Council , which is based at Observatory House in the town centre. Most of the urban area is unparished , although some of the suburbs are included in civil parishes , including Britwell and Wexham Court . Slough
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#17328525995434898-418: The road to service the passing trade. Until the town developed as an industrial area, nurseries were prominent in the local economy; the Cox's Orange Pippin apple was first raised in Colnbrook (not then within Slough) around 1825, and the dianthus "Mrs Sinkins Pink" was first raised at some point between 1868 and 1883 by John Sinkins, the master of the Eton Union Workhouse , which lay in Slough. In
4977-458: The section from Slough to Maidenhead (J5-J7) opened in 1963 and J1-J5 opened on 24 March 1965 incorporating the Chiswick Flyover. The stretch from J18 to the west of Newport was opened in 1966, including the Severn Bridge . The Port Talbot by-pass, also built in the 1960s and now part of the M4, was originally the A48(M) motorway , a number now allocated to a short section of motorway near Cardiff. The Ministry of Transport originally intended that
5056-404: The tolls were equal westbound-only on both bridges, and rose steeply after 2000 to a peak of £6.70 for cars in 2017, leading to protests from Welsh businesses. Tolls on both bridges over the River Severn were eliminated on 17 December 2018, and the former toll booths were removed in 2019. Maintenance of the Second Severn Crossing and the 123 miles (198 km) of motorway in England
5135-468: The town. The name was first recorded in 1195 as Slo . It first seems to have applied to a hamlet between Upton to the east and Chalvey to the west, roughly around the "Crown Crossroads" where the road to Windsor (now the A332) met the Great West Road. The Domesday Survey of 1086 refers to Upton, and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. During the 13th century, King Henry III had a palace at Cippenham. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325, while St Mary
5214-407: The urban district, including Chalvey . The urban district was further enlarged in 1930, when it was significantly expanded to take in most of the neighbouring parish of Langley (including the village), the Salt Hill area from the parish of Farnham Royal , and the Cippenham area from the parish of Burnham . In 1938 the urban district was incorporated to become a municipal borough . In 1974,
5293-408: The westbound on-slip of junction 41 between 7 am and 9 am and from 4 pm to 6 pm on weekdays started on 4 August 2014 but following heavy criticism from local businesses and residents, was stopped on 29 May 2015. On 5 June 2019, the Welsh Government scrapped the proposal for a proposed motorway south of Newport . The Welsh Assembly Government had revived the scheme as
5372-455: Was abolished and the borough council took on the former county council's functions in the borough. Since 2015, Slough has had a Youth Parliament to represent the views of younger people. Slough is twinned with: Before the 19th century, the main businesses of Slough were brickfields and agriculture. The bricks for the building of Eton College were made in Slough. Later, as the Great West Road traffic increased, inns and pubs sprang up along
5451-406: Was closed and a new junction built a little to the west, taking both numbers. The road to the A4 became A423(M) and later A404(M) , and the junction with the A4 became 9B. Junction 9A is the exit for Cox Green and White Waltham . To the west of junction 13 on the eastbound carriageway there are a set of sliproads signposted "Works Unit Only". The signs have red borders, implying a military exit. It
5530-414: Was designed by Charles Holloway James and Stephen Rowland Pierce , was completed in 1937. During the Second World War , Slough experienced a series of air raids , mostly in October 1940 (the largest number of people, five, dying as a result of a raid on the 13th), and an emergency hospital treating casualties from London was set up in Slough. Local air raid deaths and deaths at the hospital account for
5609-443: Was designed to have a heated road surface to reduce icing in winter. The M4 has two of the three four-level stack interchanges in the UK, including the first UK example at junction 20, the " Almondsbury Interchange " with the M5. The other is at junction 4b, the " Thorney Interchange " with the M25; this interchange has to make provision for a railway line passing beneath the M4. Due to the nature of these junctions, one cannot make
5688-452: Was first proposed in the 1930s. In 1956 the Ministry of Transport announced the plans for the first major post-war road improvement projects. The Chiswick flyover , a short section of elevated dual-carriageway, not originally classed as a motorway, opened in 1959 to reduce the impact of traffic travelling between central London and the west. The Maidenhead bypass (J7-J9) opened in 1961,
5767-455: Was for use by buses, coaches, motorcycles, emergency vehicles and licensed taxis but not mini-cabs. In December 2010, the bus lane was suspended for 18 months. It was reinstated temporarily for the 2012 Summer Olympics and then permanently decommissioned. Near junction 35 of the M4, there is a stretch of the motorway that has a surfacing of porous asphalt that improves drainage and reduces noise. When driving in heavy rain drivers notice
5846-457: Was historically a hamlet in the parish of Upton , also known as Upton-cum-Chalvey, in Buckinghamshire . Until 1863 it was administered by the parish vestry and manorial courts , in the same way as most rural areas. As Slough began developing into a town, the need for more urban forms of local government grew. In 1863 a local government district was established for Slough, covering part of
5925-423: Was in summer 2014. Another section between junctions 24 and 29 in Newport had variable speed limits until 2021, when it was changed to a permanent 50 mph (80 km/h) limit with average speed cameras. In 2010, it was announced that the motorway would be changed to a smart motorway between junctions 3 and 12. With a length of 32 miles (51 km), on completion it became the longest smart motorway scheme in
6004-461: Was largely completed between 1970 and 1980, though a non-motorway section remained across the Briton Ferry bridge until 1993, when a second motorway-only bridge opened. In 1996, the Second Severn Crossing opened with new link motorways on either side of the estuary to divert the M4 over the new crossing. At the same time, the original route over the Severn Bridge was redesignated the M48 , and
6083-405: Was not originally built as a motorway, it was later incorporated into the M4 motorway. The original Chiswick flyover carries the first half a mile of the M4 from its start at junction number 1. The flyover was extended to be over two miles long in the early 1960s, forming part of the M4 junction 1 to junction 5 section that was opened in 1965. The first one-and-a-half miles of the flyover tracks
6162-474: Was proposed that the M4 in South Wales would become the first hydrogen highway with hydrogen stations provided along the route, with an aspiration for further stations to be provided along the M4 into South West England over time. Between 2008 and 2010, junction 11 was extensively remodelled with a new four-lane junction, two new road bridges and other works. The £65 million scheme included work on
6241-638: Was said to be the most dangerous road in Britain. By 2009, 97,000 vehicles per day were using the M4 over flyover. In October 2009, actress Imogen Stubbs unveiled a plaque in a ceremony in Chiswick to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the flyover. The flyover was not originally built to motorway standards. The structure was half a mile long (0.8 kilometres) and fifty-nine feet (18 metres) wide with hard-shoulders of no more than four feet (1.2 metres) wide. 100 tonnes (110 tons) of concrete went into each of
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